Betrayed, and now gone
by Blockious
Summary: Kazuma has been accused of being a terrorist, and everyone easily turns away and leaves him to fend for himself. He manages to escape from the authorities, and runs away from Axel. The prosecutor informs everyone of the event, and kazuma's party freaks over the missing leader. Where is he? Is he okay? What now?
1. Chapter 1

Kazuma felt proud of himself. Despite how much trouble and grief this good-for-nothing world has given him, he relished at the fact that he saved not only his home but Axel from total destruction.

To be completely honest, Kazuma had mixed feelings about his current life. He was extremely excited to come to a "fantasy" world. One where people can become great adventurers and fight against monsters big or small. Plus a world with magic was just unreal!

Unfortunately, life gave him a big slap in the face, reminding him that he is still living in real life, not an RPG. Right from the start, he brought Aqua, the water goddess, with him to this world after she laughed at his death. She seemed to have promise though as she was able to register as an Arch Priest, an advanced class. She proved to be useless 90% of the time, getting herself in deep debt and somehow only causing more destruction the more she tried to help. She only came in handy when Kazuma died that one time, and when she used "Sacred Turn Undead" on the Dullahan, ridding the world of one of the Demon King's generals.

Speaking of the Demon King, they must defeat him in order to have Aqua return back to the heavenly realm.

Aside from that. Aqua has mostly caused more trouble than necessary.

And that's just the tip of the iceberg.

Next in their party is the explosion loving, arch wizard loli, Megumin. A girl from the "Crimson Demon Clan". From the start she seemed weird, but she held promise, with her class and ability to use explosion magic, the most advanced and powerful kind of destruction magic. Unfortunately, she can ONLY use explosion magic, and using the spell drains her of all mana, and then some, leaving her to be essentially paralyzed until she can recover some mana back. She constantly talks in some chuuni manner, making it sometimes embarrassing to have her around. Sometimes she could seem sensible, but then her normal personality comes through and proves otherwise. Her explosion magic though has had its uses. Like when she damaged the Dulluhan, or the Destroyer.

The final member of the party is Darkness. Or, her actual name, Lalatina. Apparently a noble girl whose family governs the area. She is mainly a crusader, a valiant knight who protects all from danger. Unfortunately, her secret is that she is actually a masochist who enjoys taking a beating rather than dishing out damage, which is why she often tanks attacks, for the pleasure. She often has no sense of time or place for her perverse actions, making it embarrassing to have her around sometimes. Of course, the problem doesn't just end there. There's also the fact that she seemingly can't hit the broad side of a barn, which makes it obviously a major problem. It became extremely apparent when they fought the Dulluhan, and her attacks managed to slice some rocks that were in the area, but not him.

Despite all this, despite all the troubles they gave him. He still somewhat cherished them. When he died from the winter shogun, he thought his time was over with them, and he sort of felt genuinely sad about it.

So why are you being told this?

Well, the city was just in the path of the the mobile fortress, "The Destroyer", which would have left the city in ruins. Luckily, Kazuma and his party, plus help from the local undead shopkeeper Wiz, they stopped it from destroying the city.

In the aftermath, some knights and a prosecutor from the imperial capital arrived at the city. One would think it was to congratulate and thank Kazuma and his party for stopping The Destroyer. Despite his heroic deed and high luck stat, this was not the case. During the mission, Kazuma had Wiz teleport the power core of the Destroyer to a random location in order to prevent it from self destructing. As a result, the core was sent to a lord's house, who luckily was not home, and blew it to smithereens. The lord in question wants to press charges, and now Kazuma is branded as a terrorist.

Now one would think, "Well Kazuma just defended an entire city, and he had his somewhat useless but trustworthy party with him, perhaps they could convince the authorities otherwise, right?" Right?

. . .

...You'd be wrong.

They did try, at first atleast, aside from his useless teammates attempt to defend Kazuma, which only ended up branding him as a major pervert, and quite possibly committed the crime of sexual harassment, but the other citizens were quick to his defence.

That is... until the prosecutor declared that anyone who was willing to stand by Kazuma would also be charged, and thrown in jail.

That quickly changed the tone of everybody, making them all go silent, while his teammates slipped aside to avoid him.

No one was willing to defend Kazuma, other than the perverted crusader, but possibly for her own gains for the pleasure of being thrown in jail.

'This is how I'm rewarded, how I'm treated? I helped defend this town from not only the Destroyer, but also the Dulluhan, and when things get serious I'm thrown under the bus? Even my worthless teammates turned their backs on me...' Kazuma thought to himself.

He was hurt, mad, angry. Angry at the people inside the guild. Angry at his teammates. Angry at the people who came to arrest him. The knights put some handcuffs on Kazuma, and they all exited the guild hall.

* * *

Morning came, and the knights were in disarray. A new sign was posted on the quest board and all over town, one that shocked not only the three girls from Kazuma's party, but also the entire city.

**WANTED**

**SATOU KAZUMA**

**ACCUSED TERRORIST**

**RESISTED ARREST, ASSAULTED AN IMPERIAL KNIGHT AND FLED**

During the escort to the prison, Kazuma attacked the knights and quickly fled away. Away from everything. From the worthless town he saved, his worthless teammates that had essentially abandoned him when shit hit the fan. He ran into the forest and hid from all the guards that searched for him.

Satou Kazuma was now a wanted man. He was betrayed by his teammates and the town he just saved, and now fled from his old life.

The only question remained, what now?

* * *

**Heyo! Welcome to my first Konosuba fanfic, hope this turns out great! This was an idea that popped in my head and refused to go away so now here we are! The only thing left to ask is one thing, what should happen now? I have a few ideas but I want to leave it up to the readers.**

**1\. Kazuma lives deep in a secluded forest, away from the others so none would find him.**

**2\. Kazuma could work in a bandit group as he does have a few thief skills and even Lich skills.**

**3\. Kazuma runs to another city, one that isn't within the jurisdictional reach of the Imperial Knights so he won't be arrested.**

**These are my main ideas for now, so leave a comment on which one you'd like to see and I'll pick the one with the most votes!**


	2. Chapter 2

Kazuma was now a wanted man. As a result, his party was now in a panic.

"WAAAAAAA, KAZUMAAAAAA! WHY DID YOU DO THIS?! WE WERE SUPPOSED TO BREAK YOU OUT OF PRISON BUT NOW YOU'VE DISSAPEARED AND BECAME ONE OF THE MOST WANTED CRIMINALS IN THE KINGDOM!" Aqua was already in a frenzy, with her bawling her eyes out in her usual manner while flailing about.

"YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO HELP ME DEFEAT THE DEMON KING YOU BAKA HIKI-NEET! HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO GO BACK TO THE HEAVENLY REALM NOW?!"

Megumin was also taking the news very difficulty.

"K-K-Kazuma is g-gone... Idiot... we were supposed to continue our daily explosions together, but you've run off... who's going to lead this party now?! Are we gonna disband?! NOOO I DON'T WANT THAT! I DON'T WANT TO GO BACK TO MY OLD LIFE" Megumin screamed, clutching her head at the dreadful memories.

Darkness was busy tending to the two others as they had their mental breakdown. This wasn't to say that she wasn't having her own internal conflict as well. However, there are times where she can keep herself composed well enough to handle situations like these.

'Kazuma's gone... It's our fault that he's gone... I'm a crusader, I'm supposed to protect my people, and I let them take him, and now he's run off...' Darkness thought.

It took hours for Aqua and Megumin to finally calm down enough to stop bawling their eyes out.

"W-what do we do guys?!" Aqua asked. Kazuma's gone, and we have no idea where he went! We have no clues other than he was last seen running away."

They all thought about their current situation, and after a long pause, Darkness spoke up.

"This is our fault..." She said, clutching her fists tightly.

"Darkness..." Megumin said gently.

"No!" She shouted back. Despite her masochism, at times Darkness has some common sense, but she often finds herself in situstions that prove otherwise.

"Kazuma is our ally, and we made it seem like we just abandoned him when he needed us! Megumin!" She shouted, pointing a finger at the Arch Wizard.

"M-me?" Said Arch Wizard pointed at herself, slightly confused.

"Did Kazuma not let you stay as a party member despite your inability to use any other magic, aside from your explosion spell, which renders you paralyzed and possibly a burden to him?" Darkness exclaimed.

"Gek..." Megumin outwardly flinched. Darkness was really laying it out thick. But she had a point. Kazuma really had no reason to keep her in the party. Sure she forced him by making him look like a bad guy in public, but afterwards he totally could've dumped her paralyzed body somewhere. Despite that, here she stood, living in a mansion with her party, and she even seen the wonders of casting Explosion magic twice in one day! And when there was a chance she could be arrested with Kazuma for defending him... She threw him under the carriage.

"Yes... He did..." Megumin admitted.

"And Aqua!" Darkness pointed at the ex-goddess.

"Y-yes?!" She exclaimed.

"I may not know how you and Kazuma met, but despite that, he has show great disinterest in you, often spite or even borderline hatred, you beg him for money and accumulate debt for us, and yet, does he not still house yoh? Does he still not amuse some of your whims, or give you the funds you require? Many would've abandoned someone like you for causing so many problems for him, especially when it was only you two."

Aqua felt like an arrow shot through her heart. Once again, Darkness was right. Aqua has cause more problems than she has fixed them. Even the mansion they are currently residing in, rewarded to them because of the trouble SHE cause. She constantly accumulates debts and then begs Kazuma to give her money, yet at the same time treats him like trash, essentially taking him for granted.

"Even I myself, recognize the trouble I caused for Kazuma. I may be a Crusader who protects all from those who dare to attack, but my attacks seem to always fail to hit, and I can tell Kazuma is rather embarrassed to have me around. Normally I would take pleasure in that thought, but now is not the time. We all have our fair share of problems, even Kazuma himself has many, but he still took us all into his party and took care of us. He may be a perverted, greedy, rude, pitiful man, but he is our leader, and he made sure we were safe. Now, he is gone, and we have no choice but to trudge on until Kazuma returns or we find him."

The others agreed. Even if Kazuma was gone, they couldn't imagine a life different than what they currently have. They were already accustomed to their lives inside the mansion, taking quests that sometimes leads to one or more of the girls vulnerable to the enemy, sometimes even traumatizing them, and reaping the rewards if it.

They didn't wanna split up, they had to stick together and stay as a three man party, hopefully reuniting with Kazuma at some point.

The others nodded, agreeing with Darkness.

"So we are agreed. We will stick together, and we must search for Kazuma where we can."

"Yes!" The others exclaimed.

Kazuma may be gone, but we will stay together, we will be a party, we will find Kazuma again.

* * *

**Heyo! It me! I'm glad I got a bunch of reviews for the first chapter and the votes certainly put option 3 as the main path for this story.**

**Some people gave really good suggestions, but I have to admit that I don't have much knowledge in Konosuba aside from the Anime series, so I've yet to read ahead on the manga so I don't know many locations or characters outside the anime.**

**I will still try my best to make it work!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Kazuma POV**

Hello, my name is Satou Kazuma. I am an adventurer. I was brought to this world when I died and was given the offer by a useless Goddess. During my time here I made some friends. I went into all kinds of battles and adventures with my party. But now?

I'm a wanted man who escaped the authorities. They branded me a terrorist and I could only imagine what they do to those kind of people in this good for nothing world. My friends, party members and the other people in the Adventurer Guild turned their backs on me when things got rough, and so now I ran away on my own.

You might be curious as to how I escaped, right? Well let me tell you.

* * *

**Earlier**

The guards had me in cuffs as we walked towards the jailhouse I was to be held in.

I was pretty mad, to say the least. Mad at these guards, at this prosecutor, now named Sena. Mad at everyone to be honest.

As we walked, I hatched a plan. I kicked the guard in front of me in the groin, and in the moment where everyone was shocked, I used my Lurk to slip by them.

I bolted towards the forest and that's when they noticed me.

I heard orders barked to apprehend me, but I had already gotten close to the forest. As I got close, I heard something whistling in the air.

I took a look behind me and saw an arrow speeding towards me. I panicked which caused me to trip, but also dodge the arrow. It flew by and stuck itself into the tree in front of me. I snatched the arrow as I ran into the forest. I knew I could use this to my advantage.

I ran and ran, deeper and deeper into the forest. I didn't stop until I thought I was a considerable distance away, and hid on top of a tree.

Once my nerves were relaxed, I inspected my handcuffs. They were simple, it was mainly made out of wood with a small metal lock that seemed to have rusted somewhat. Perhaps if I used some rocks to break the lock then I could remove these.

With that in mind, I fell asleep in the tree.

Once morning comes, I check my surroundings to make sure there were no guards around. After confirming there were none, I climbed down the tree. I decided to walk towards the lake Aqua purified a while back. I knew there were some rocks of varying sizes I could use to possibly break the lock on these.

The lake came into view, crystal clear water shone under the early sunlight, s giant contrast to the dirty brown water that resided the lake previously until Aqua purified it.

I quickly scanned the shore, looking for some rocks that could be used to smash the lock. It was going to be tricky, due to my hands being bound together.

As I walked around, I found a large boulder, similar to the one we tied Aqua's cage to. I then found a round rock, one that was larger than most rocks, and heavier too, and an idea came to mind.

My plan was to roll the rock off the boulder and have it smash the lock when it fell.

With that in mind, I set the rock on top of the boulder and let it slowly roll. Soon it picked up speed and it fell quickly.

**THUMP**

It missed.

Oh well!

I did the same thing over and over for maybe half an hour, and that's when the frustration kicked in.

"WORK DAMMIT!" I yelled out.

This was hopeless, if I can't get these cuffs off I may as well go back to Axel and turn myself in. I won't be able to manage like this. If I run into a monster I'm gonna be too restricted to even fight, especially without a weapon. If I enter a town with these it'll definitely be suspicious and then I'd get turned in.

Dammit... why should I have to deal with this crap?! We just SAVED Axel from certain destruction, we took out one of the Demon King's generals, and yet I'm being accused as a terrorist.

"DAMN IT ALL!" I shouted in frustration, slamming my fists down.

Because of some luck (heh), I was somehow managed to smash the lock in my fit of rage.

I removed the cuffs from my hands and chuck them away.

With that taken care of, I have to plan my next move.

I needed to escape. Most likely no place in Belzerg is safe for me. They'd probably have wanted posters setup to hunt me down. Regardless, I still needed supplies, like food and a map. I'm no survivalist, nor am I familiar with this world's borders. The only thing I knew, Axel was due south from this forest, and that was a definite no go.

Why would I even go back? They didn't help me, so why should I risk getting caught so I can see them?

I paused for a moment, thoughts of them ran by in my head.

I let out a sigh, now isn't the time to think about them, I have to think for myself from here on out. No useless Goddess', no loli Arch Wizards, and now masochist Crusaders, just me.

I got this!

...

Do I though?

Before coming here I was a shut in, now I have no idea what I'm doing. As much as I detested the kind of party members I had, atleast I enjoyed their company...

**Drip**

I sighed as I started walking, away from Axel and into my new life as a runaway criminal. Shame no one was around to explain what the source of the small trail of water droplets that trailed me was, nor why my face was wet... Why do my eyes sting so much too?!


	4. Chapter 4

He had to leave the kingdom.

Kazuma knew this.

If he stayed in Belzerg, he would eventually get caught.

The only question was, where to?

From the few times he looked at a map when looking at quests, he knew Axel was somewhat close to the border that lead to another kingdom.

That was his goal.

If he ran into another kingdom, he could be free! They wouldn't be able to arrest him if he was out of their reaches.

So he was heading east, and only straying when necessary, but always going back to east.

But of course, wandering about would take a toll on the poor boy. Switching from a shut in to an adventurer left his body more weak than most average adventures, even with the levels he's gained over time. Plus, hunger was an actual thing.

He trekked in the decided direction, eventually clearing the trees and making it to an open field.

As he walked along the field, he found a path that looked much different than the rest of the field. The grass looked tramples, dead, or burned. He noticed the oddly shaped marks on the path as well.

'This must be where the Destroyer walked on its way to Axel.' Kazuma thought to himself.

He cringed slightly at the thought of the machine.

'I shouldn't have even bothered with the Coronatite core since we ended up needing to blow up the whole thing. My suffering is all because of that stupid inventor!'

Kazuma could only sigh as he continued on his path.

Day passed and night fell.

Kazuma managed to stop by a tree, using branches and other things he could gather to make the beginning of a campfire.

"Tinder!" Kazuma chanted.

A small fire ball formed in his palm and lit the campfire. He sat down with the tree against his back, allowing him to lean back and relax more.

Kazuma looked into the night sky, observing the stars that shined brightly.

Suddenly, his stomach let out a rumble. He could only sigh in response.

'I'm gonna have to do something about food... I won't last long if I don't eat... But just what am I going to eat?'

Kazuma had to eat sooner or later. He was only able to stay hydrated by using "Create Water", but food is another issue.

'Guess i'll have to figure that out tomorrow...' He thought as he prepared for another night of sleeping.

When Kazuma slept, he always had his skill "Detect Enemy" on passively, in the event that an enemy would attack him in his sleep.

As he drifted off to sleep, he couldn't help but think about Axel.

* * *

_..._

_Kazuma opened his eyes and saw he was standing in his mansion._

_As he took in his surroundings, he heard someone call him._

_"Kazuma Kazuma!" A female voice called out._

_He turned around and gave his usual response._

_"Yes, I'm Kazuma." He said in a monotone voice._

_Once he turned around he saw that the person who was calling him was Aqua._

_"Let's go on a quest! I need more money for some alchohol!" She said with an excited look on her face._

_Kazuma looked away from Aqua to see Megumin and Darkness looking at him with anticipation, they seemed to agree with Aqua._

_He let out a sigh and responded._

_"Alright alright, let's check out what quests they have at the Guild."_

_The other three cheered._

_They exited the mansion and made their way to the Adventurer's Guild._

_As they exited, a woman with black hair and dressed in some formal clothing watched them from a distance._

_Kazuma was ahead of the group as the girls talked about various things._

_Things were going well until a topic about Kazuma came up._

_"Ehhh? That Hiki-NEET? No way! He's so unreliable though!" Aqua said blatantly, which annoyed Kazuma._

_"OI, THE HELL YOU BITCH?! WHERE DO YOU GET OFF INSULTING ME?!" Kazuma shouted._

_"EHHH? WHAT DID YOU CALL ME?! YOU CALLED ME SUCH A VULGAR NAME! ME, A GODDESS?!" Aqua retorted._

_"YEAH, DEBT GODDESS FOR CERTAIN!"_

_The two bickered while Darkness and Megumin just looked at each other with exasperated looks._

_As the group walked through the town, Kazuma saw in the corner of his eye the black haired woman, but just as he noticed her, she seemed to have just vanished._

_'Odd' Kazuma thought to himself._

_As they got closer to the Guild, the two finally managed to calm down._

_"So, what kind of quest should we be taking?" He asked the girls._

_"One of the difficult jobs that will earn us loads of money!" Aqua exclaimed, pumping a fist in the air._

_"One that involves a strong monster that can deal a lot of damage" Darkness said, blush forming on her face as she wrapped her arms around herself, squirming at the thought._

_"One that can let me use my explosion magic so I they can feel the power of the greatest mage from the Crimson Demons!" Megumin said as she struck a pose with her staff._

_"ARE YOU ALL IDIOTS?!" Kazuma said as he smacked all of them in the back of the head_.

"_ITA!" The three cried__ out as they put their hands on their head where Kazuma hit them.__"What's your deal Kazuma?!" Aqua cried out._

_"Are you trying to get us killed?! For one moment can't you all be sensible?!" Kazuma shouted._

_Letting out a sigh, he relaxed a little as he glanced at the quest board._ _As he glossed over the many quests that were posted, he noticed a strange post that was buried under the ones infront of it._

_Shifting some of the quests aside, he could make out a portion of the post that said "WANTED"._

_"A wanted poster? On the quest board? Strange."_

_Just as he grabbed the poster to see who was on it, a voice spoke up._

_"Stop right there!" Called out a female voice._

_He turned around to see the black haired woman pointing an accusatory finger at him._

_"W-wait, me?!" Kazuma asked, clearly confused._

_Before he could process anything, he was tackled by some royal guards._

_"H-hey! What's the big idea?! You can't just-"_

_Before he could finish his sentence, the wanted poster he was holding flew by his eyes, but he saw who was on it._

**_WANTED_**

**_SATOU KAZUMA_**

_Kazuma, was shocked._

_'Wait! The girls should he able to help me!'_

_"Oi! Darkness, Megumin, Aqua! Help me!" Kazuma cried out._

_He looked over to the three._

_They were..._

_Smiling?_

_'Wait, why are they smiling?!'_

_"Help you? Ha! Yeah right. As if I'd help a Hiki-NEET like you! You're finally getting what you deserve!" Aqua said with a smug look._

_"WHY YOU LITTLE-" Kazuma was cut off by a punch to the gut._

_The guards put hand cuffs on him and one lifts him over their shoulder. As they made their exit, he saw the three laughing._

_"Bye-bye Kazuma!" Megumin waved at him._

_"Have a wonderful time in prison!" Darkness said next._

_"Don't come back..." Aqua said in a low tone._

_As Kazuma's vision was fading, only one thought crossed his mind._

_'Why?'_

_A tear rolled down his cheek, falling down to the ground._

**_Drip_**

_The moment the tear hit the ground, everything stopped._

_And then everything became nothing._

* * *

Kazuma's eyes opened once again, except this time he could see the the faint glow of of the sun rising.

Infront of him was a burned out campfire.

Taking in his surroundings, he let out a sigh.

"Just a dream, huh?" He spoke in a low tone, grimly chuckling to himself a moment afterwards.

He slowly stood up, and remembered the direction he needed to go in.

Just as he was about to set off, he noticed that there was a town on the horizon.

He needed food, fast, perhaps he could go there? Question is how could he get there without getting caught.

He thought for a moment before nodding.

"Alright, let's do this."


	5. Chapter 5

Things were stressful for the girls.

They needed to earn more money to survive, and choosing which quest to take is difficult for them.

Aqua wanted a difficult quest as usual since it would earn them more money.

Megumin just wanted a quest that involved a powerful monster, or a bunch of monsters to blow up with her 'Explosion'.

Darkness simply wanted a quest with a powerful monster to satisfy her masochistic needs.

So as a result, they picked a quest that was posted a while ago, about a griffon and a manticore that are fighting for turf.

The three ventured out to complete the quest.

...

...

...

The mansions door was slammed open by a miserable sight.

Aqua had a blank look on her face, her eyes seem devoid of life.

Her left hand was on Megumin's robe, she dragged her home, while her right hand was used to drag a passed out Darkness, who donned a perverted smile and blush.

The fight went about as well as one would expect.

Aqua couldn't fight, but she was able to cast boosting magic on the other two.

Darkness couldn't land a hit, so she was basically useless, and was swiped off to the side from the battle between the two monsters.

Megumin fired off her explosion magic, which only served to attract the attention of the two monsters towards them, rather than kill them.

Aqua had to drag Megumin in a rush, grabbing Darkness as well and breaking for it back to Axel.

"We can't survive like this..." Aqua said with a dead tone.

* * *

Aqua slammed her hand on the table Darkness and Megumin were playing chess on.

"Guys! We need to accept a quest that we can handle, otherwise we won't be able to survive!" Aqua said in a serious tone.

"We do get carried away with what quests we get..." Megumin admitted.

"Usually Kazuma would hit us all and pick a quest that we could handle." Darkness said, a slight blush appearing on her face at the thought of being hit.

"Exactly! We need to think like Kazuma! What would he do in this situation?" Aqua asked.

"Steal some girl's panties?"

"Sexually harass a girl?"

* * *

"AH-CHOO!" Kazuma sneezed.

"I don't know why, but I feel really pissed off right now..." Kazuma grumbled.

* * *

"No! Think harder!" Aqua exclaimed.

The two sat in silence, thinking about what Kazuma would do, aside from the usual things they would think of.

"He would pick a quest that was better suited for our level, and will be able to complete or survive." Darkness said with a serious tone.

Megumin sighed, but she nodded her head in agreement.

"As much as Kazuma creeps me out at times, he always looks out for us in the end, he dosen't want us getting killed, even if Aqua can use resurrect."

"Yes! So we need to pick an easier quest! They may pay less, but at least we can succeed!" Aqua exclaimed.

"I guess we can do that." Megumin agreed.

"Yes, while I do find more pleasure in fighting strong enemies, if we cannot survive together then all is lost." Darkness said.

"So it's agreed! Let's do another quest tomorrow! One that we can completed" Aqua said, raising a fist in the air, the other two cheering with her.

**-The Next Day-**

The three were looking at the quest board again, looking for a sensible quest that they could handle.

Without Kazuma, they couldn't handle too many enemies at once, with Darkness missing all attacks, Aqua having next to zero offence skills, and Megumin only being able to fire off her explosion once.

They settled on a simple goblin clearing quest. Not too many goblins were occupying an open field, so they could handle it.

When they reached the area, they could see a group, no larger than 10 goblins around a campfire.

"Megumin! Use your explosion on them!" Aqua ordered.

"Got it!" Megumin exclaimed, getting into her usual stance.

"O, fires of the eternal flame. I beseech thee, with the blood of the crimson demons that course through my body, grant upon me a fraction of the power that you wield, to bring forth a destructive force against my enemies, so that they shall be reduced to ashes that can be offered to you. Let thy flames run rampant, and come forth!

**EXPLOSION!!!"**

An explosion erupted, wiping out the camp of goblins in one blow, leaving behind only a large, smouldering crater.

"That was amazing..." Megumin said as she collapsed onto the ground, mana drained entirely, leaving her unable to move.

"Great job Megumin! You wiped them all out!" Aqua exclaimed.

"That was a splendid display." Darkness said.

"Now that it's over, let's go home and collect our reward!" Aqua cheered at the thought.

Just as she said that, they heard some footsteps.

The two girls who were still standing turned around to see one more goblin

"EHHHH, THERE WAS STILL ONE MORE!!! DARKNESS KILL IT!" Aqua cried out.

Darkness quickly unsheathed her sword and immediately made a move to kill it.

She readied her sword as she ran and as she got near, she swung her blade. With grace, the blade swiftly flew through the air. It all happened so fast that no one could see when she struck the goblin.

...

...

...

Except...

Patches of grass were shaved off near the goblin.

Her attack missed.

The goblin, realizing it wasn't dead, charged Aqua.

"AHHHH, WHY IS IT COMING FOR MEEEEE?!" Aqua cried out, falling on her behind.

What the goblin didn't notice, was the fallen archwizard that was just laying on the floor. The goblin tripped on her and landed beside Aqua.

The two stared at each other before the goblin hissed at her.

"AIEEEEEE, GOD BLOW, GOD BLOW, GOD BLOW, GOD BLOW!" Aqua screamed, using her one of two offence attacks to hit the goblin.

Eventually she hit it enough to the point where it passed out.

Darkness then came over to the goblin and finished the job with her blade.

Needless to say... questing is gonna be difficult for these three.

Darkness hoisted Megumin on her back, and the three trekked back to Axel.

They cashed in the quest and were paid 50,000 Eris for the job. Goblins weren't particularly difficult or strong, but the group of them were causing problems for a few villages, causing the reward to be increased when they all pitched in.

"At least we got a reward this time!" Aqua exclaimed, admiring the bag of coins in her hands

"Yes, but we need to manage this properly, we can't spend money like there's no tomorrow." Darkess said as she took the bag from Aqua.

"We should atleast focus on essentials like food and gear." Megumin said.

"I know that!" Aqua said, slightly annoyed.

"Do you?" They both asked, dead tones and looks in their eyes as they looked at her."

"YOU GUYS ARE SO MEAN!" Aqua cried out.

* * *

**Another chapter done! I wanted to peek into the lives of the girls, now that Kazuma isn't with them. I always had a feeling that they would mess it up like that at first but with some sensible thinking they would at least take an easier quest. I also kinda winged it with the explosion chant, and thought it would be funny to throw in the extra goblin.****That's all for now though! Got another chapter to work on!**


	6. Chapter 6

Kazuma was looking at the village he happened to find on his path.

He was at a hill that gave him a good vantage point to see what the village had to offer using his "Farsight" skill.

The village grew many crops on their own, had several trees that bore shiny red apples, and had a few stalls that sold many of the crops.

Kazuma knew he had to get food, otherwise he would perish. But it still gnawed at him to steal, but he didn't have any money.

As his eyes roamed the village, he noticed there was also a quest board of sorts. He couldn't make out many details but he recognized the format. Perhaps he could make quick use of it to earn a few coins before leaving.

He continued to scout the area before noticing someone exiting a store with a tunic sign hanging over it. They seemed to have a small basket of clothes. They left it on the side of the building, next to what looked like a pile of trash before going back inside. Perhaps they were throwing out some old or ruined clothing. Kazuma noted that.

Once he was done, he waited till the sun was starting to set. The sky turned a bright orange, the amount of people that were outside diminished to very few, so Kazuma made his move.

Kazuma entered the town, luckily not seeing any royal guards around. His first stop was the clothing store. He saw that the box of clothes was still present, so he quietly rummaged through it. He found what seemed to be a black cloak with a hood, but had a few holes and a grey patch, possibly an attempt to repair one of the holes was made. Regardless, he took it and put it on. The hood draped down enough where it would cover his face if he let it. It could also double as a blanket of sorts.

He went to his second stop, the quest board. It seemed to be less of a quest board and more of a request board. Some small and easy jobs for an adventurer. Normally Guild Halls would have official quest boards where money was paid upfront. All the recipient had to do was show proof of completion and the guild would pay them immediately. This kind of a board however just had you bring the proof to the requestor themself and they would pay you. There also had been a stroke of luck because no wanted poster of him has been posted yet, but he had to be careful nonetheless.

He browsed over the board and noticed a few jobs that interested him. One was a request to hunt a pack of wild boars in the area. They were a bit aggresive so most normal people wouldn't be able to handle the task. For Kazuma however, what he needed was a weapon. He still held onto the arrow that was shot at him during his escape. Even with it, he couldnt do much with such a thing, it would snap easily when attempted to be used as a rudimentary offensive knife.

Another request that took his interest was a one way escort request to another location. A map was provided to show the distance from the current village to the destination. It was right on his path to where he was heading. Perhaps he could take this quest, but without a weapon he'd just be slightly better than a passenger.

The final request was a simple one. A forest not to far has a few monsters making it dangerous for the average citizen to venture but there is a tree that grows a special breed of cherries. This kind of cherry has a very sweet taste to it, but contained no seed, therefore it could not be grown closer to the village.

Kazuma figured this would be the best way to start.

He took the paper off the board and noted the location being north from the village. He also made a stop to grab the basket from the clothing store, removing the other clothes from it, to carry the cherries.

Once he figured where to go, he quickly made another stop.

Around the area where crops were grown, there was a few apple trees that had some beautiful red apples. He quickly used his steal ability to swipe a few apples from the tree before running off without being spotted.

'At least I have something to eat tonight.' Kazuma thought to himself as he headed north.

The sun had fully set as the forest came into view.

He made camp a fair distance away from the forest to avoid any monsters coming out and attacking him in his sleep.

'I don't have Aqua with me to resurrect me this time around...' Kazuma thought to himself, taking note of the higher danger factor in play now that he couldn't just be resurrected easily.

He took a bite out of one of the apples he stole, staring at the fire for some time, he made one last thought before he prepared himself for a night's rest.

'I wonder how the other's are doing...'

Once that thought passed through his mind, he quickly fell asleep.

* * *

Kazuma was awoken by a sudden rumble.

He quickly got up to scan his surroundings, but found no threat at all.

He the only thing he noticed was a small cloud of smoke somewhere in the distance from where he was camped.

'Someone must have set off a bomb or something while fighting a monster. Though it does remind me of a certain Arch-Wizard.' Kazuma thought as he got prepared himself to enter the forest.

There were many trees in the forest, so the abundance of leaves shrouded the forest in darkness. It wasn't as dark as night, but it was certainly darker than outside the forest. Regardless, he trekked through the forest.

After about an hour, and another apple consumed, he found a cherry tree that fit the description. A tree with occasional red leaves among the green, with bright red cherries growing on it.

He used his steal skill to quickly grab enough to fill the basket he brought with him.

Just when he finished collecting, he heard some bushes rustle.

With caution, he activated 'detect enemy', and located 3 goblins that were surrounding him. Just as they jumped at him, he used his lurk skill to vanish, leaving the three goblins to crash into each other.

Kazuma laughed as he quickly ran away, making it out of the forest slightly quicker this time around.

By now noon had passed, so the village may be more active, but he needed to hand in the cherries.

Besides, how bad could it be?

* * *

It was very awkward. Anyone would expect it to be when walking around a public area with a black cloak. Makes you look like some evil person, probably from a cult.

Luckily he was able to find the person who requested the job and was awarded ten thousand eris, plus a bonus five thousand for the large amount of cherries he brought.

He was even requested to come by later on around evening.

With the small pouch of money in his hand, he went to the weapon shop for buy a new weapon.

As he stepped into the shop he was greeted by a large man with a gruff voice.

"Welcome! We got the finest weapons in town! Names Trevor! What can I get'cha stranger?" He asked.

"Just looking for a weapon. Preferably one handed. I only have fifteen thousand eris with me. What can I get with that?"

"Fifteen thousand eh? Well let me check." The man said before entering the back area.

He emerged a few minutes later with a few swords.

"Here's what I got for ya, from left to right, lowest to highest in price. I would recommend more on the pricier side, they're reinforced with a stronger metal so they're more durable, but it's up to you on what you're comfortable on spending."

While normally Kazuma would want to save as much as possible, he knew he couldn't easily enter weapon shops in other cities, and even villages once wanted posters were put up. So a more durable weapon would be ideal.

He ended up picking the furthest right item. He drew the sword out a little bit to check out the blade. As he inspected the weapon, the shopkeeper spoke up.

"That one is a fine weapon. The blade is made with strong steel, the guard and pommel made with bronze, and hilt made with a strong leather. It's an excellent weapon for an adventurer, on a budget that is. This one should last you for a long time." The storekeeper said proudly.

"Alright, I'll take it!" Kazuma said, sheathing the blade.

"Excellent!"

"So how much is this?" Kazuma asked the man.

"Thirteen thousand eris, but I'll throw in a pair of fingerless gloves. The extra layer can help with a few pains when wielding a sword for a long time."

"You got yourself a deal." Kazuma said, taking out the bag of eris and placing the correct amount.

With his new weapon placed on his side, and gloves equipped, he bid the man a good day before leaving.

Kazuma went back to the man who he gave the cherries to. What he didn't expect was to be handed a slice of what seemed to be a pie made with the cherries he collected.

With gratitude, he took the slice and ate it as he went on his way.

While a slice wasn't much, it was better than getting the whole pie since he had no place to store it, and he didn't want to carry it around.

He had finished eating when he returned to the request board.

He already knew which one he was going to take next. He took the one which requested three wild boars in the same forest to be killed for food. This time other people would accompany him so they could bring the boars back instead of him.

Now that Kazuma had a weapon, he should be able to kill them, and defend himself from any other monster.

With the request in hand, he went to the place to plan about this mission.

* * *

The next morning had come, the plan was simply two men, who had a much larger build than Kazuma, brought a horse and cart with them to carry the boars back to town. For now, one of them rode on the horse while Kazuma and the other rode in the cart to the forest.

The man on the horse was a white male with brown hair. He wore a simple white tunic that had been faced with the elements to turn more towards a slightly brown shirt. His name was Ralph. The one in the cart with Kazuma was Ralph's younger brother John. He had black hair rather than brown hair, and wore a brown tunic. They had an age difference of only a year, so they didn't look drastically different. Just minor details.

"Hey Kazuma." John spoke up.

"Hmm?"

"I gotta ask, what's someone like you doing out here? Our town doesn't get visitors often."

"I've been wondering too. You kinda showed up one day with the cherries and now this request." Ralph said.

Kazuma thought for a moment. He did want to say why he was there, but it would most likely lead to them getting some guards to arrest him, so he chose his words carefully.

"I... I used to live in Axel, with a few... friends... We were in a party together. We went on a lot of adventures together, we even defeated a demon lord and took down the Destroyer."

"Whoa, that sounds amazing! We saw that monstrosity far in the distance. It was too far for it to notice us, but it was so big that even then we could see it. Amazing that it was your group that took it down." John said with amazement.

"So how come you're here if things were great back in Axel?" Ralph asked.

"Well... we had a bit of an... altercation if you would say. They left me hanging, all alone. So I left Axel, and I plan on going far from there."

"Wow... they sound like real jerks then." John said, leaning back.

"Perhaps, I can't go back now. But, I still do care somewhat for them, y'know? Sure I may be mad at them, but I can't hate them. Not after the things we've been through."

Memories of the girls ran through his head. The useless goddess grabbing his tracksuit, shaking him in a panic. The Arc-Wizard, falling after using her explosion magic, and sliding down the grass slope she was on. The perverted crusader, who showed a display of pure ecstasy while being attacked by flying cabbage.

But at the same time.

Aqua and Kazuma partying together in the guild hall after a long day of work. Kazuma carrying Megumin after she fired off her explosion magic, forcing him to have to carry her home. Darkness standing at the outskirts of Axel, bravely awaiting her enemy to come, despite her common tendencies.

Sure he may have gone through hell with those three, an amazing thing to claim when one is an actual living diety, but he wouldn't change the fond memories he has of them.

"Sounds like you got it rough kid... I hope things go well for you."

"Thanks." Kazuma nodded at John under his hood, before leaning back as well.

After some time, they stopped outside of the forest Kazuma had previously gone to for the cherries.

"Alright, we'll wait here for you to take care of the boars. If possible, kill them closer over here so we don't have to go too deep into the forest." Ralph said.

"Got it!" Kazuma said before jumping out of the cart and walking into the forest.

Kazuma was greeted by the familiar slight darkness that fell when entering the forest.

He followed the directions he was given on the way. He kept walking east until he ran into a small pond of sorts. He had spotted a couple monsters on the way, but he used his lurk skill to sneak right by them.

He then headed north where the common grounds for the boars were.

It was here that he decided to use his lurk skill more actively to avoid getting flanked by the boars.

Kazuma had to be careful. While he had experience killing monsters, wild animals are a different story.

Monsters tend to have slightly more intelligence than animals, so sometimes they have a mindset that is easily predictable.

Wild animals in contrast can be easy to hunt down, but when provoked, they could be dangerous. Wildly attacking in ways that can throw a strategist off their game.

It wasn't long until Kazuma heard a snort. The boars were nearby.

Just as Kazuma peeked his head around one of the trees, he saw his three targets. But he was shocked to the core at what he saw.

What Kazuma was expecting was some animals that didn't go higher than maybe his waist at best.

What he didn't expect, was for them to be taller than he was, nor did he expect their tusks to be long and seemingly sharp enough to impale him.

'THIS WORLD IS JUST CRAZY!!!' Kazuma screamed in his head.

Regardless, Kazuma slowly moved to attack. Just as he did, he stepped on a branch which snapped very loudly.

Kazuma's blood turned cold as the boars stopped for a second before quickly turning their heads towards Kazuma.

The two groups stared at each other before Kazuma spoke up.

"H-h-hey... How's it going?" He asked, shaking in his boots.

Just as he said that, the three boars let out a loud squeal before they all charged at Kazuma.

"OH CRAP THEY'RE ATTACKING!" Kazuma screamed before he booked it.

As he ran back, he heard the heavy footsteps from the boars. One quick glance back and he saw that the boars looked like they were ready to kill.

"WHY DOES THIS HAVE TO HAPPEN TO MEEEE?!"

After running south, he eventually ran back into the pond he passed, making him turn west towards the two he came with.

He took another quick glance back but noticed something a bit terrifying.

There were only two boars.

'Wait, where the hell did the third one go?!'

Just as he asked that, he heard a set of heavy footsteps to his right.

Charging right at him was the third boar, running at full speed, ready to pierce his body with it's tusks.

"LURK!!!" Kazuma screamed, allowing him to have a slight boost which allowed him to barely dodge the boar, it's tusk just barely making a scratch on his cloak.

Because of it's speed, it was unable to stop or turn directions, forcing it to crash head first into a tree, knocking it out.

'Alright! One down!' Kazuma internally cheered.

With only two boars chasing him, he started coming up with ways to take care of the others.

He used 'create water' to make a sort of wet area up ahead, then used 'freeze' to make the surface slippery.

He jumped over the ice while the boar stepped on it and slipped, making it also crash into a tree, rendering it unconscious.

'Alright! Just one more to go! All I gotta do now is-'

Kazuma's train of thought was cut off as he felt a tug on his cloak.

While he was cheering about the second boar, the third one had caught up to him and hooked its tusk to his cloak.

It lifted his head, throwing Kazuma into the air. He let out a scream as he was flying, until he landed on the boar.

'Oh... well... shi-' He couldn't finish his thoughts as the boar started picking up pace, attempting to throw Kazuma off.

It wasn't long till they exited the forest, where Ralph and John were.

"KAZUMA, YOU GOTTA KILL THAT THING MAN!" Ralph shouted.

He already knew that, but it was charging towards them, and it was getting really close.

Kazuma lowered his left hand, grabbing onto the fur, he then used his right hand to draw his sword.

He stabbed it in the back, making it squeal. But he wasn't done. He used his sword to climb further and further, stabbing different spots along the way till he was close to the head.

"DIE ALREADY YOU BASTARD" He shouted before stabbing it in the eye.

That caused the boar to squeal really loudly before falling over onto it's side.

Kazuma landed safely, and watched as the boar squirmed around before finally dying.

"Good grief, what a pain that one was." He said to himself.

Then, he heard some hands clapping.

"That was incredible Kazuma! You must've been a great adventurer, because that was quite a spectacle." John compliment before slapping him on the back.

"Hahaha, thanks John. Anyways I have to go kill the other boars, I'll have to get you guys to help me bring them.

"Alright!" The two brothers said.

After loading the first Boar onto the cart, they went into the forest together where they found the unconscious boars. Kazuma killed both of them before they brought them over to the cart.

They hauled the three boars back into town. It had become sunset when they returned.

Kazuma was rewarded fifty thousand eris this time, but he also got an extra twenty thousand because of the size of the boars. They didn't expect the boars to be so big so they paid him for it.

"So Kazuma, what are ya going to do no" Ralph asked.

"Well... I need to keep going. I had planned on taking the escort request to go to another city nearby, and then crossing the border to another kingdom. After that, I'm not sure."

"Well, best of luck to ya pal. Hope to see you around. Hopefully things go well for you and your party members." John said.

"Thanks guys, hopefully I'll come back one day." Kazuma said before turning and leaving.

He now had money, he was able to stay the night at the inn. There he was able to eat a hot meal and sleep in a comfortable bed for once.

He knew he wouldn't be able to enjoy this for long. The next city would probably have wanted posters of him all over, so for now he could only enjoy this here.

He stared at ceiling, lost in his thoughts.

"Everyone... I hope you're doing well... I really miss you guys..." He said quietly to himself before turning to his side on his bed and falling asleep.

* * *

**I know this chapter came out suuuuper late, but I hope I made up for it by making it over 4k words this time! Longest chapter I've ever written so I hope it was enjoyable.**


	7. Chapter 7

Kazuma stayed at the town for a few days, waiting for the time when he could leave for that escort request.

He had already accepted the job, but the client had requested a few days before their departure. He was fine with this since he had earned enough money to stay at the inn and eat proper meals. During his time, he went to the clothing store where he had a new cloak made for him. He also bought camping supplies, knowing once he finishes the job and departs on his own, he'll need them.

He also completed some other requests while he was there. Best to earn some money while he was somewhere that didn't know who he was properly before he gets to another city.

There were two important items he also bought during his time in the village. He bought a map and compass. With the map, he knew where he was currently and which city he was headed to.

He was currently in the village of Lux he was to escort his client to the Capital, which is close to a nearby border. In between Belzerg and the next kingdom lies what is known as the "no man's land". Neither Belzerg nor the other kingdom takes ownership of the land, due to the high quantity of bandits who've resisted either kingdom's authority.

That was his best bet. It would be risky, but now that he's geared up he should be able to manage.

When the time came to leave, he was surprised to see that Ralph and John came by to see him off.

"What are you guys doing here?" Kazuma asked the two.

"Well of course, we're here to see ya off! We may not have been together long, but we did share quite a bit on the ride for the boars!" Ralph said.

"Exactly, you're a friend now." John said, raising a fist for Kazuma to bump, which he did return.

"You guys..." Kazuma said with a smile.

"Take care."

"Maybe one day things will be better for you."

"Maybe... But thanks, maybe one day I'll come back." Kazuma said.

"You better!" Ralph said.

With their final goodbyes, Kazma left the two and went to his client.

* * *

It wasn't long till he was on the road.

The person he was escorting was named William. The job was pretty simple. William had a carriage, but the road he intended to take to the Capital was riddle with monsters and potential bandits. As a result, he needed someone to be his bodyguard.

When on the road, they would mainly stop if there were monsters on the road. When there wasn't monsters Kazuma just sat in the back of the carriage reading a book he bought back in the village.

The book was about a boy who lived in a world that was plagued with monsters. He was training to become one of the many people who were to defend the people from these creatures. Unfortunately, a secret was revealed and he was betrayed by his friends. However, one by one, he and his former friends made peace, and he was able to be with them again, and he even managed to find love.

'I wonder if I could ever do something like that... could I forgive them? Could we be a party again?' Kazuma thought to himself.

He couldn't think much on it anyways because of William shouting out for him.

"There are monsters ahead!" He said. stopping the carriage.

With a sigh, Kazuma tucked that thought away. He got out of the carriage and saw a group of goblins a little further down the road. Drawing his blade, he charged at the goblins.

* * *

They traveled a good amount before the sun started setting. They stopped on the side of the road and setup camp. Of course when two people are alone together, a conversation will come up eventually.

"Hey, I got a question for ya." William said.

"What is it?" Kazuma asked.

"What business you got from the capital? The job is a one way trip after all."

Kazuma looked up at the starry sky, thinking about what to say.

"I... I'm running."

"From what?" William inquired.

"From everything, I guess... "

Kazuma told William his story, leaving out the details about being a wanted man. How he grew from nothing, with an idiot for a teammate, living in a stable, to 3 idiots for teammates and living in a mansion. How they took down the Destroyer, and how when things got a bit tough afterwards, they threw him under the bus.

"Damn kid, sounds like ya got the short end of the stick."

Kazuma didn't reply, just continuing to stare into the sky.

"So, are ya heading to the capital, or do ya plan on going even further?" William asked.

"I plan on leaving the kingdom, head out to the neighboring one past the "no man's land" as it's called."

William stared at him with shock. "Ya really intend to go way out there? Either ya got a pair or yer a fool for going in that direction."

"Maybe I am a fool, but it's the best I can do."

"Well, let me give you a piece of advice."

Kazuma looked away from the sky and looked towards William while leaning towards him.

"There's a bandit group that's mighty legendary in that area. They're one of the main reasons why neither kingdom can claim the land as their own. They're known as the "Blood Eyed Bandits". You'll know when you're near their territory if you spot their markings around, drawn in blood." William took a stick and drew in the dirt an eye with some kind of scar like line that reached from above to below the eye.

"Do your best to avoid them, they don't take kindly to outsiders." He warned.

"Gotcha, I'll keep that in mind."

The two spent a bit more time talking before William went to sleep. Kazuma was left alone by the campfire. The book he was reading previously in the cart now sat on his lap. He thought back to the question he had before. Could him and the girls be a party again?

Kazuma looked at the book before he looked into the fire.

'Maybe... but I doubt it. There's no way they would ever be able to find me in the next kingdom...' He thought before he closed his eyes, falling asleep.


	8. Chapter 8

Somewhere out in a field, the wind was blowing peacefully. Animals occasionally passed by, but the land mainly disturbed by only the gentle winds of nature. It was a beautiful sight to see. One could say, it was the pinnacle of beauty in nature, one so grand, it could bring a grown man to his knees in tears, it could cleanse the evil thoughts from a wicked being, it could lead you... to enlightenment.

"EXPLOSION!"

... Or so it was, until magic swirled around chaotically in the air and a pillar of fire arose forth, the air rippling with power as an enormous explosion went off.

Megumin just fired off her daily explosion, Aqua beside her to carry her home.

She fell to the floor, happy about being able to use her explosion magic. "Explosion magic really is the best~" Megumin said, face in the dirt.

Aqua picked up the arch-wizard and placed her on her back. "Just make sure to not use only your explosion magic tomorrow, we have a quest to complete since we're running out of money." Aqua said

"Got it!" Megumin exclaimed.

Ever since the last time taking a quest, it was a bit of a wake up call for the three girls. Aqua decided to finally stop acting so childish and selfish all the time. Megumin had finally learned more magic spells other than "Explosion", though that would not stop her from wanting to set off daily explosions. Darkness invested some skill points into offensive sword skills, which allowed her to actually hit targets.

Despite Darkness' lineage, the three had to earn money to survive in this world. Kazuma was no longer there to keep them in check, nor to defend them when it mattered most. They all realized that if it were not for Kazuma, they most certainly would have died many times in the past.

"Hey... Aqua?" Megumin spoke up.

"What is it?"

"Do... do you think Kazuma is alright?"

Aqua stopped walking, thinking for a moment before she continued her stride.

"I think he is. Despite the kind of person he is, he wouldn't want to die, he'd survive with all his might. He's probably still running from the royal guards." Aqua said.

There was a moment of silence before Megumin spoke up again.

"... Do you think he's mad at us?"

"What makes you think that?" Aqua asked, slightly confused.

"Well, when that lady came with those guards, and he was accused of treason, and she said if we side with him we would also be imprisoned, we just kinda left him hanging... Not just us, everyone who was there turned away despite him saving them. Anyone would get mad after that. We were supposed to break him out but he already ran away before we had a chance..."

"..."

"Maybe he hates us, maybe that's why he ran off by himself rather than taking us with him..."

"... Maybe..." Aqua said quietly, but Megumin heard her.

"So you agree, he does hate us! Of course he would, we were nothing but trouble for him and then we made it seem like we ditched him the second we could! We have to do something about this! W-we can't just leave things like this! W-w-we- I- He- K-K-Kazuma..." Megumin slumped further into Aqua's back, feeling guilty.

Aqua felt the same guilt Megumin was feeling. She knew where she was coming from, and she was right. The three of them were mainly just nuisances to Kazuma while he did his best to keep them safe.

Aqua felt a few drops of water hit the back of her neck. It didn't take long for her to realize that the source was Megumin who was crying. Her slight sobs both audible and strong enough for her to feel it on her back. It was enough for Aqua to also let out a few tears of her own.

She could only hope that Kazuma was safe out there. She was a goddess trapped in a mortal body, without most of her god like powers, so she could not protect Kazuma. Maybe he was always right, maybe she really is just a useless goddess.

* * *

When they arrived at the mansion Megumin had recovered enough for her to walk. After thanking Aqua, she swiftly retreated to her room. She walked past Darkness who was confused at the girl.

"What happened?" Darkness asked.

Aqua told Darkness about the conversation they had on their way back after Megumin's daily explosion.

"Oh dear... She must be feeling very guilty after thinking all that..." Darkness said, giving a worried look towards the way Megumin left.

Aqua nodded. "To be honest, I can't help but feel some of that guilt too. He may have dragged me here, but I should've been more mature than the way I was this whole time..." She recalled the amount of times she had racked up debt and would go to Kazuma, on her knees, begging and crying for him to help her, and even after he did she would only cause more problems.

"Do you think he's safe out there?" Darkness asked.

"Most likely. He may have been a pervert, lolicon, and a Hiki-NEET, but he is smart. He's resourceful, just hopefully he hasn't been found yet by the royal guards."

There was a moment of silence before Darkness said something that seemed a bit crazy.

"Do... Do you think we could ever find him?"

"I doubt it, he's going to be on the run, who knows where he'll go to escape, a different village, city, or even kingdom just to run from them."

Darkness nodded her head in agreement.

"I'm going to get some rest, we have a quest to take care of after all." Aqua said before getting up and going to her room.

"Goodnight" Darkness said, to which Aqua repeated to her as she left the room and headed to her bedroom.

As she walked through the halls she stopped in front of Kazuma's door. She stared at the door before she let out a sigh and continued on her way.

"Please be safe Kazuma..."

* * *

**Just wanted to make another chapter peeking into the state of things with the girls with Kazuma being gone for a while.**


	9. Chapter 9

Kazuma and William were slowly getting closer to the capital. They had a few run ins with monsters, but for the most part the ride has been peaceful.

The capital became more visible in the distance. Once they got to a certain distance from it, Kazuma made William stop the cart.

"You leaving here already? Why not come with me into the capital and you get a good day of relaxing before leaving." William asked.

Kazuma shook his head. "Sorry man, but this is where I leave. There shouldn't be any monsters this close to the capital so you'll be fine." He said as he hopped off the cart.

"Alright, but here, can't let you leave unrewarded." He said before taking out a bag and tossing it to him.

Kazuma opened the bag to see a hundred thousand eris in it.

"Thank you." Kazuma said.

"No problem kid, take care of yourself alright? And don't forget what I told you about the blood eyed bandits."

"Of course. I'll be careful."

"See ya later kid, next time I see ya let me buy you a drink."

Kazuma chuckled a bit at that. "I'll hold you to that then." He said before he started walking away.

Kazuma was slowly approaching the border of Belzerg, the white walls that represented the borders coming into view. He used his foresight skill to see where the he could exit.

He spotted a large exit but the gate was closed, so he couldn't make an easy pass through. The exit was also heavily guarded, many guards present, possibly to deter any bandits within the "No man's land".

He didn't press on any further, trying to exit during the day would be an easy way of getting caught.

Instead, he turned his direction to a nearby forest, and entered it. He sat by a tree, eating some of the rations he bought from Lux.

'I've made it this far... tonight is where things get serious...' Kazuma thought to himself as he ate.

* * *

William made it to the entrance of the capital where a long line up to enter was present.

"Jeez, what's the hold up?" He complained.

As he waited, a guard stopped at his cart.

"Good evening, I must inspect your cart before permitting entry." The guard said.

"Alright, mind me asking why?" William inquired.

"A criminal is at large, he may be a potential terrorist. We are inspecting every incoming cart in case he's hiding in one."

"Ah, I see."

"Well, you're clear sir. Just in case, take this wanted poster of the criminal, in case you see him." The guard said, handing William the rolled up poster.

"I will, thank you." He said to the guard.

The guard nodded then walked off to the next cart to inspect.

William took the rolled up poster and opened it up. He paled at the sight of who was on the wanted poster.

**WANTED**

**SATOU KAZUMA**

**ACCUSED TERRORIST**

**RESISTED ARREST, ASSAULTED AN IMPERIAL KNIGHT AND FLED**

"Oh kid... be careful will ya?" He said quietly, looking to the direction where Kazuma walked off.

* * *

Back in Lux village, the villagers were surprised to see some royal guards on horses approach the town.

They stopped at the center of the town, where the request board was.

"Attention all citizens! There is a criminal on the loose! He is dangerous, and potentially a terrorist! Keep an eye out for him, and if you happen to see him, notify the capital at once! One of the guards said before nailing a wanted poster onto the board.

After that, they turned around and left the village.

There was a murmur among the villagers. Two men, Ralph and John, walked towards the board to see the poster. They were shocked to see a familiar face on the poster.

"Ralph, you don't think..."

"No, absolutely not. There's no way Kazuma is a terrorist. After defeating the Destroyer, there's no way. He was here, for several days and he did nothing to us. Instead he helped us." Ralph refused to believe the sign was true.

"You're right, this must be why he was running."

"Probably."

"Do you think he's okay?" John asked.

"Probably... I don't know..." Ralph said uncertainly.

* * *

The sun was setting, it was getting darker. Kazuma took this opportunity to start leaving the forest. He stuck beside the walls of the border until he got close to the gate. Once he got close enough, he noticed there was a door beside the gate, perhaps the way to the top of the wall.

He snuck closer to the gate until the guards came into view. From there he used his lurk skill to slip behind some guards and got to the door. He slowly opened the door and slipped in.

'I'm so close!' Kazuma thought to himself.

BANG* ...That is, until the door slammed shut.

"What was that?!" One of the guards shouted.

"Go check the doors, everyone else stay on guard!" Another shouted.

'Crap! Just my luck! And I thought I was supposed to have high luck!' Kazuma internally screamed.

He heard the door handle rattling, so he booked it up the stairs. When he reached the top, he saw a guard at the top, weapon drawn.

"Stop right there!" The guard shouted.

Kazuma ran right to the guard, dodging an attack before punching him in the gut, causing the guard to fall back.

He then hopped over the side towards the no man's land.

"Stop him!" A guard shouted.

Kazuma turned around to see a bunch of guards on the wall, bows ready to shoot.

"Fire!" One shouted.

"Shit!" Kazuma shouted before booking it into the large forest. He had to dodge several arrows, one nearly catching him but only went through his cloak.

Eventually he was out of range, and out of view of the wall.

He stopped running and caught his breath.

"I... I did it! I actually did it!" Kazuma cheered

'I can't believe it! I actually managed to escape from Belzerg!'

Once he caught his breath, he took out his map and compass and checked that he was heading in the right direction. Once he confirmed where he was going, he put them away before walking.

It was eerie, walking through the forest in this kind of darkness, so he trekked carefully.

As he moved along, he noticed a a tree with an unusual marking on it. He got closer to the tree and saw the marking clearly.

An eye with a scar, drawn in red.

'Wait, isn't this-'

_"There's a bandit group that's mighty legendary in that area. They're one of the main reasons why neither kingdom can claim the land as their own."_

'This marking! It's them!'

Before he could properly process what situation he was in, he got hit over the head with a strong force.

He fell to the floor unconscious.

From the shadows appeared two figures.

One with a female voice spoke up.

"Go back to base and let the boss know we got company coming." She said to the other.

The other person nodded before leaving into the shadows.

The girl crouched down beside the unconscious Kazuma and lifted his hood.

"Well then, what're you doing out here?"


	10. Chapter 10

"...!"

Kazuma heard a voice shouting at him, but it sounded very muffled.

"W...e U...!" The voice shouted again.

He couldn't focus very well on the voice.

"WAKE UP!" Shouted an unfamiliar female voice before a bucket of water was thrown onto him.

"AHHHH! WHAT HELL?!" Kazuma screamed.

"About time you woke up." She said.

Kazuma blinked his eyes until he was able to focus his vision.

He looked around to see a bunch of people with masks that cover the bottom of their face. One in particular was a girl with a bucket in her hands, she had silver hair, almost similar to Chris, but it was a little longer. He was also in some kind of cabin of sorts, his cloak, sword, and satchel in the corner behind two other masked men.

"Who... who are you?" Kazuma asked.

"No one you should be concerned about." Said the girl with the bucket in her hand, right before she threw it at him, hitting him in the face.

"Why you little..." Kazuma grumbled, giving her a death stare.

"Awww, little man angry? Why don't you do something about it?"

Kazuma went to leap at the girl, only to be stopped by the rope that binds his hands together, and locked his arms around a wooden pole.

"Ahahahaha! You look so dumb right now!"

As she laughed at his misfortune, the door slammed open, halting her laughs.

"Boss!" She said before she got down on one knee, followed by the others.

Kazuma turned his head to the person they called their boss. He was tall, and decently built. He carried a staff that seemed as tall as he was. He also had a mask covering his lower face, and had crimson eyes.

'Wait, those eyes, is he a Crimson Demon? Megumin had eyes like that but she's the only crimson demon I've met. Regardless, he seems strong, I better be cautious about him...' Kazuma thought to himself.

The man looked at Kazuma before turning his eyes to the girl. "Is this the one who entered our lands?"

"Yes, boss. We found him coming from the direction of the kingdom of Belzerg." She said.

"Good work."

He walked to the end of the room and sat down on a chair.

"So, what is your name?" He asked.

"Nunya..." Kazuma lied.

"Nunya?"

"Nunya business." Kazuma said with a smirk which quickly got removed from his face with a kick to the face.

"Speak like that again and I'll be sure to hit you hard enough to make you piss yourself." The girl said.

"Fine... Satou Kazuma..." He said for real this time.

"Satou Kazuma eh... That sounds familiar." The boss said.

"He's the one that the imperial guards have been looking for in Belzerg. Last time I was in the capital there were posters of him all over." Said the girl.

"Interesting... I think the kingdom would pay a hefty price for your head then, wouldn't they?" Said the boss.

"Oh right, where are my manners. I am Anak, the leader of the Red Eye Bandits." The boss, now named Anak, said.

"You sure you're the Red Eyed Bandits? I'm only seeing one of you with red eyes so far. Hell, she has blue eye- gchk!" He was cut off with a punch to the gut.

"What did I tell you last time?" She said.

"While it is true that I am the only one with red eyes, our emblem is marked on our body." Anak said, rolling up his sleeve to reveal the mark on his arm.

Kazuma looked to the girl and she revealed the mark on the palm of her right hand.

"So, Anak... What're you going to do with me?" Kazuma asked.

"Well, normally we would give you the option of joining us or die. But, with the capital looking for you, you're more valuable to us dead than alive."

"S-so, what you're saying is..."

"We're going to kill you!" The girl said, taking out a knife."

'Shit! These guys are insane!'

The girl approached him, knife in hand.

'Think Kazuma! What can you do?!' Kazuma internally panicked.

Before he could formulate a plan, the girl stabbed him in the arm, causing him to shout out in pain.

"Where's that confidence now? Not so cocky now!" The girl asked, giving him a sly smile.

'I have to do something, anything!'

"TINDER!!!" Kazuma shouted, summoning some fire in his hands. He used the fire to burn through the rope that was binding his hands.

"He can use magic?!" The girl said in shock as Kazuma got up.

"That's not all I can do, Steal!" Kazuma used his "world famous" ability on her, and in his hand appeared exactly what he thought would happen.

Black panties.

"Y-Y-YOU PERVERT!" She shouted, making a move to stab him again.

"Create water!" A large torrent of water shot out of Kazuma's hand, soaking the bandit.

Due to the water, she couldn't see properly and missed Kazuma. He used this opportunity to use his lurk skill to slip by the two guards, grab his things and bust through the front door and escape.

What he did not account for was the flight of stairs that the cabin was on top of, causing him to fall down the stairs and land roughly on the dirt.

His cloak had flown out of reach from him while his satchel had leaked some of its contents onto the ground.

Barely retaining his conciousness, he looked at the top of the stairs to see the bandits exiting, with a very pissed off girl.

He barely managed to grab his satchel and the pouch of coins before limping away as fast as he could.

"He's getting away!" The girl shouted.

"He won't get away that easy." Anak before raising his staff.

"Hell Storm!" A ball of fire formed above his staff before shooting into the sky.

Once it reached its maximum height, it exploded into smaller, but many fireballs, each setting off an explosion.

"Crapcrapcrapcrapcrap!" Kazuma shouted as he tried his best to not get hit by the explosions.

He activated his lurk skill again to give him a slight speed boost so he could outrun the fire, but his limp and injured arm were holding him back from making a full sprint.

Just as he thought he was getting away, he looked behind him to see a fireball not too far beside him.

"SHIT-" Before he knew it, the fireball touched down and exploded, sending him flying into the forest.

He hit the ground hard, bouncing a few times before rolling into a tree.

He felt weak, he felt pain, his ears were ringing.

The only thing he noticed was that nearby the trees he landed was a large bush. There were many of them around the forest, so he crawled into the bush to hide before collapsing from the lack of energy.

'I'm so tired...' Kazuma thought to himself as his vision was fading.

He barely heard the shouts of the bandits, scrambling about to search for him, but at this point he didn't care.

He was too tired to do anything but close his eyes.


	11. Chapter 11

Pain.

Pain and exhaustion is all he felt as his eyes slowly opened.

He blinked a few times to regain focus before remembering his current situation.

He was captured by the Blood Eyed Bandits, but he managed to escape. He got stabbed in the left arm, fell down a flight of stairs, and was hit by an explosion. The fact that he was still barely alive to crawl into the bush he was in was a miracle in of itself, even more so that he wasn't found while he was unconscious.

Night had descended, so it was dark, but luckily he had his night vision and detect enemy skills to find any enemies. Luckily there were none so he was able to relax for a moment.

He sat up and rummaged through his satchel. Luckily he still had his money sword, and a bit of food left. Unfortunately his map had fallen out, not to mention his cloak that he couldnt't grab.

He ate the last of his rations before he took out the compass to figure out where to go.

He managed to head in the right direction when he escaped so he just had to keep going.

'Man this whole experience sucks... I hope the girls are alright at the very least...' Kazuma thought to himself, looking up at the moon.

After a moment, Kazuma took a deep breath and struggled to get on his feet.

It was difficult to get up, thanks to his left arm being unable to support him as he got up.

He eventually got to his feet, doing his best to keep balance. He grabbed his satchel and secured it before he limped out of the bush and headed towards the other kingdom.

He had used his detection to avoid any monsters that were around the forest, which made his journey painless for the most part.

After around an hour of walking, he noticed some lights in the distance.

'There it is! I just gotta reach there and I'll be safe!' Kazuma exclaimed internally.

Just as he broke to limp quickly, the whistle of an arrow was heard. An arrow swifty shot past him and landed right in front of him.

His blood seemed to have frozen over as he realized the looming threat.

He slowly turned around and saw three of the bandits, including the girl, and Anak behind them.

"Shocked, aren'tcha? We knew you were gonna go this way, since you are a criminal in Belzerg. Only made sense that you would run here." The girl said mockingly.

"Indeed, now then, come with us peacefully, otherwise I'll be forced to kill you here." Anak said, pointing his staff towards Kazuma.

He stared at them. What could he do?

'Think Kazuma! You can't use your left arm, you can't run very fast! What can I do?!' Kazuma panicked internally.

Seeing as how he wasn't surrendering, Anak ordered for them to attack. He saw the two other bandits draw their knives and charge right at him.

Kazuma drew his blade and parried their attacks, but what he didn't expect was for the girl to attack as well, stabbing him in the right arm, causing him to scream in pain and drop his sword.

He looked around, he was outnumbered and outmatched.

"Just give it up. There's nowhere for you to run." The girl said.

Therefore he had only one solution.

"Lurk!" He shouted.

Kazuma used the shadows and trees to his advantage, as well as the speed boost from the skill to escape.

"AFTER HIM!" Anak shouted before the three chased Kazuma.

Kazuma ran. Not limped, ran. He ran despite the pain, despite how much his legs wanted to give out, how much his armed hurt. He ran. He felt tired, he felt like he could pass out any second, he felt like his body was like lead. But he still ran.

Using lurk, he was able to run quickly towards the border of the kingdom.

He just barely managed to dodge most of the arrows and knives that were sent his way. The ones that did hit just left scratches.

He saw the area slowly turn red, causing him to look up and see some fireballs heading his way. The trees burst into flames, while the area around him exploded.

He just barely managed to dodge them, but the smoke was making it harder to breath.

After a few minutes of running, the sight of the wall grew larger. He was so close! He could see the guards patrolling the gate. He ran out from the trees and onto the open road, and began to shout in hopes a guard would hear him.

"HELP! PLEASE, HELP ME! HEL-" Kazuma was cut off as an arrow hit him in the leg, casing him to scream in pain and fall over.

He lifted his face off from the dirt, and looked towards the wall.

"Dammit... I'm so close..." Kazuma grumbled as he crawled to the best of his ability to get closer.

"Please... help me..." Kazuma pleaded, using a fireball skill as a flare of sorts.

The small fireball flew up in the air before it dissipated.

Unfortunately, he turned to look behind him to see a volley of fire balls headed right towards him.

Just as they descended, Kazuma spoke quietly to himself.

"Oh... This must be it for me then..."

**-KABOOM-**

* * *

Aqua dropped her tea cup, causing it to hit the floor and shatter.

She suddenly felt dizzy and anxious, her hands were trembling while her blood felt like ice. She felt like the worst thing she feared had come true.

"Aqua! What's wrong?! Darkness called out as she rushed to the Arch-Preist's side.

Megumin looked up from the couch in concern.

"No... I don't know what... but I just have this feeling that something bad just happened." Aqua said.

She looked out the window and stared at the moon.

'Please be safe Kazuma.' Aqua prayed.

* * *

**So this took me a long time to put out thanks to my phone screen breaking recently. I'm currently borrowing an old phone, and honestly I prefer to write on my phone than on a computer****. Plus , I was doing a bit of work on "Shut In" because when I have ideas like that I just can't help but have to finish those, since it was short.**


	12. Chapter 12

'Where am I... Am I dead? Did I die?'

Kazuma tried to understand his current situation.

He struggled to open his eyes, but once he managed to get them open, he was blinded with a bright light.

He shielded his eyes from the bright sun that was peering through the window.

He focused his eyes and saw he was in his room, in his bed.

Confused, he got up and out of his bed.

"What am I doing here?" Kazuma asked himself, inspecting his surroundings.

He couldn't find anything out of the ordinary, so he exited his room in search for the others.

"Where are they? They must know something about this."

He quickly moved his way down the halls until he opened the door to the living room.

He saw Aqua lazing on the couch while Darkness and Megumin were playing chess on the dining table.

"Everyone-" He called out, but was cut off when he felt something tug at his wrist.

He looked to see his right hand in a handcuff.

"Wait... why am I..?" Kazuma questioned before he saw the unusually long chain. He followed it before he saw the person on the other side.

It was Sena.

"Stop right there, terrorist!" She shouted as she tugged at the handcuff, pulling him closer to her.

"Stop it! Guys, help me!" He cried out to the girls. But none of them noticed. He kept calling out to them, until the door had slammed shut.

"No..." He fell to his knees in despair.

Just when he thought it couldn't get worse, Kazuma felt several arrows impale themselves into his back, causing him to scream out in pain.

Right as he sat there in agony, he felt a pair of knives stabbing into his arms, causing him to collapse onto the floor.

"What a shame." Said a female voice.

He looked up to see a fireball headed right for him.

"No..."

The fireball got closer to him.

"**NOOOOOOOO**!!!!"

* * *

Kazuma woke up with a cold sweat. His breathing was uneven while his heartbeat was elevated.

'Where... Where am?' Kazuma questioned.

He looked around to see he was in an unfamiliar room. He was laid in a bed and under covers.

He tried to get up but his body refused to comply, responding with only pain.

He looked at his arms to see them bandaged. While inspecting himself, he noticed that his top was off, revealing his torso to have some bandages as well.

Suddenly the door opened and man and woman walked in.

"Oh! You're awake! Welcome back to the land of the living." The man said.

He saw that the man short brown hair and brown eyes, and wore iron armour, similar to the guards he saw before. The woman had long blond hair with blue eyes, and was dressed in blue robes, round glasses and had a hat like some of the mages back in Axel had, so Kazuna presumed she was a mage of sorts as well.

"Who..." Kazuma asked weakly, but he was unable to finish his sentence.

"Ah, where are my manners! My name's Dale, this one here is Lily. I am a guard at the border gate, Lily is a mage and she came by to deliver something to me."

"How... How did I get here?"

"Careful now, save your energy. But to answer your question."

* * *

Dale was standing on the top of the gate. He was one of the people who were meant to spot enemies coming from a long distance.

"Dale!" Called out a voice.

Dale looked to the side to see Lily walking over to him.

"Lily! What brings you here?" He asked.

"I stopped by the weapons smith who said he had finished repairs on your weapon. He asked if I could deliver it to you so I agreed." She said, presenting his sword to him, which he gladly took.

"Ohhh thank you! It feels so much better to use my weapon than one of the standard ones here.

"It's no problem. Now I must be on my way- Wait... what is that?" Lily asked looking out into the forest.

"What?" Dale asked before looking towards the forest.

They saw a few small orange balls flying in the air. They didn't think much about it until they fell down and set off an explosion each.

"Explosions?!" Dale activated his farsight skill to see further down the road.

There he spotted a young man waving his hands, as if he was calling out to them.

"There's someone on the road!"

"What?! An enemy?" Lily asked.

"No, he seems to be running from the explosions." Suddenly the person fell over.

After a moment he saw him shoot a small fireball into the air. It flew for a moment before dissipating.

'A flare?' Dale thought to himself.

Suddenly, more fireballs appeared, all seemingly targeting the fallen man.

"Lily! Summon a barrier! Protect him!" He said Lily nodded in response.

"Barrier!" She raised he hand out, summoning a bubble around the person. The explosions went off, which drained some of her mana.

While she was able to defend him from the brunt of the attack, he still got blown away from the blast, which got him closer to them. The barrier shattered as he hit the ground, but the guards nearby rushed over to defend him.

They spotted three bandits who seemed to be targeting the man

"Stop right there! You will not get any farther." Dale shouted.

"Tch, we were so close... No point in getting captured here." Said the female of the three before they ran off.

They all relaxed before the turned towards the passed out man on the ground.

"What should we do with him?" One of the guards asked him.

Dale and Lily looked at each other before nodding.

"We'll take him into the city, from the looks of it he could use some healing."

* * *

"And that brings us here. We're currently at Lily's place since my house is usually a mess. Since she knew restoration magic she was able to heal most of your wounds, but you better take it easy to make a full recovery." Dale said, finishing his explanation.

"... Thank... you..." Kazuma said weakly.

"Oi, I said save your strength. You can thank us once you can get back on your feet."

Kazuma slowly nodded before he passed out again.

A moment of silence passed before they heard his soft breathing, indicating he was asleep.

"Where do you think he came from?" Lily asked.

"If I had to make a guess, possibly Belzerg. It's the only thing thats across the forest."

"Then why would he go through the forest? It's extremely dangerous to pass through there."

"We can ask him when he wakes up, until then, just help him recover."

"Alright. Are you heading out?"

"Yea, I have to report this incident."

"Okay, be careful."

"No worries!" Dale said before leaving the room.

Lily watched him leave. When the door closed she turned her focus to the unconcious man.

"Why were you in the forest?" Lily asked quietly.


	13. Chapter 13

Kazuma woke up with a start, he looked around before realizing where he was.

"Right... I'm in that mage's house... What was her name again... Lily?" He asked himself before he sat up.

As he inspected his body, the door opened and Lily walked in.

"Oh! You're awake! How're you feeling?" Lily asked.

"I feel alright, a little pain but for the most part I'm fine." He said.

"I'm glad to hear that, you've been out for over a day now so it's good to see you already feeling better."

"WAIT I'VE BEEN ASLEEP FOR OVER A DAY?!" Kazuma shouted, looking out the window to see that it was already night time.

"Yup! You must be hungry, right?"

Just as she asked, Kazuma's stomach growled loudly, making him blush in embarrassment.

"I thought so. I've made dinner so if you can, come downstairs."

Kazuma nodded before she exited the room.

He took a moment before he got up from his bed. He stretched for a bit to make sure that he was feeling fine before he also exited the room. He made his way downstairs, the smell of food hitting his nose.

"There you are! I've made some beef stew, I hope that's alright since I don't know what your preferred tastes are."

"That's alright, thank you very much for this."

"It's no problem, what's important is that you're feeling well." She said.

Kazuma sat down at the table before Lily placed a bowl in front of him. He marveled at the sight of the food. As she sat down, she gestured for him to eat.

"Thank's for the meal!" Kazuma said before digging in.

"How is it?" Lily asked after Kazuma took a few bites.

"It's good! It's been a while since I had home cooking like this!" Kazuma exclaimed.

"Oh? Do you not cook, or perhaps you were too busy to have a chance?" Lily asked, eating her own share.

Kazuma flinched when she asked that question.

"S-Something like that..." He said, hesitating to take his next bite.

"Oh? What's wrong?" Lily asked, wondering why he reacted that way.

"Its uh... It's nothing..." Kazuma replied sadly, looking down at the bowl.

Lily looked at the boy before she smiled, placing a hand on his.

"You can trust us. We did save you after all."

Kazuma frowned for a bit before he responded.

"When Dale gets back, I'll tell you guys..." Kazuma said.

"That's okay, I can wait then." She said before she resumed eating.

The two conversed more while they ate.

Kazuma learned that he was in the city of Lorm, meaning he made it to the other Kingdom, Einshard. He also learned that Dale was a guard of the border while Lily was a mage who lent her skills to any party or the hospital when she was needed, otherwise she spent most of her time at home.

An hour after they had finished their meals, they sat in the living room until Dale knocked on the front door.

"Hey! It's good to see you up and healthy! Gave us a scare when you were being chased." Dale said as he entered.

"You got that right. So, are you willing to tell us about yourself?" Lily asked as they sat down on the couch across from him.

"Alright, well prepare yourself for a long story. My name is Satou Kazuma, and I come from a city called Axel, in the kingdom of Belzerg." Kazuma started.

He spent the next few hours telling his story to the two. He left out the parts about him coming from another world to avoid any confusion or complications. He told them about how he started in Axel with Aqua, how he came to meet Megumin and Darkness, the adventures they went on, the life he had lived. How he went from living in a stable to living in a mansion. He fought against a Demon King general and won, and with the help of his party and Wiz, took down the Destroyer and saved the city. He hesitantly told them about how after they stopped the Destroyer, he was accused of being a terrorist due to the coronatite core destroying a lord's mansion, even though the teleport was at random. He then told him of how he escaped from the guards, spent time in the village of Lute, his job with William, escaping Belzerg, and his run in with the bandits, all leading him to where he is now in Lily's house.

"And that's about everything there is about me. That's why I'm here. I'm simply a man on the run from the law that falsely accused me." Kazuma said, finishing his story.

He looked up to see Lily in tears while Dale had an angry look.

"How awful! You did so much for that city and yet you were treated like a criminal. And you've gone through so much." Lily said, wiping the tears.

"That's such bullshit! As a guard I find this completely unreasonable. But don't worry Kazuma, we won't turn you in! Right Lily?"

"Of course! There's no way we should ever turn you in. You're here now in Lorm now, so you're safe."

"You guys..." Kazuma said.

He felt happy. He felt relieved. After all this time of surviving and running from the law, after his run in with bandits, he finally felt safe.

"So what do you plan to do now Kazuma?" Dale asked him.

"Honestly, I don't know. If possible just do what I normally did back at Axel, be an adventurer."

"In that case, why don't you explore the city tomorrow? Lily can guide you since I'm busy with my duties, what do you say Lily?" Dale suggested.

"That sounds splendid! I can show you around the city and the things to do here! I need to go shopping tomorrow anyways. How about it Kazuma?"

"Of course! Thank you!"

The three spent a bit more time chatting before Dale had to leave. The two cleaned up a bit before they got ready for the night.

Lily turned in for the night, leaving Kazuma with his thoughts.

Kazuma spent some time thinking before he looked out the window and up to the sky.

'Guys... I'm somewhere safe now...I hope you three are doing well...' Kazuma prayed before he also went to bed.

* * *

Aqua was sitting in her room, taking leisurely sips of her alcohol. Just as she was relaxing, she felt something in her mind spark. It felt very familiar, like a prayer of sorts. She recognized the source.

Kazuma.

"So you're safe... Thank goodness..." Aqua said, letting out some tears of joy.


	14. Chapter 14

Kazuma woke up to the sound of knocking on the door.

"Kazumaaaa? Are you awake yet?" He heard Lily call from behind the door.

"I just woke up... What's wrong?" He asked.

"Today we're going around the city, remember? I wanted us to leave early, so get ready!" Lily said before she walked off.

Kazuma sighed before he got up and started getting dressed.

He stared at the green mantle that he had with him. It was definitely worn from the journey coming here, some tears were present so he thought about getting them fixed.

He finished getting dressed in his usual clothes, minus the mantle, and strapped on his satchel, putting away the mantle in it.

After making sure he had everything, he exited the room and headed downstairs to meet Lily. He found her sitting in the living room reading a book. She heard his footsteps and looked up towards him.

"There you are! I was wondering if you would ever be able to get up." She said as she closed the book she was reading.

"So, is there any reason why you wanted to leave so early?" He asked her, looking out the window to see the sun not too high up, indicating is was early in the morning.

"Well the market is filled with all kinds of delicious treats! Perfect for breakfast, and it's even better when it's early, meaning they'll be fresh!" She explained.

"I see... Well I guess we should get going then."

"Of course! Let's go!" Lily exclaimed as she got up from the couch.

The two exited the house, allowing Kazuma to take in the sight of the city he was in while Lily locked the door.

It was a big city, but surprisingly the air still had a similar smell as Axel. While it was somewhat larger than Axel. There were hills in the city, causing for some buildings to be elevated, but it didn't subtract from the view.

"Come on!" Lily said as she started walking down the road.

"Coming!" Kazuma shouted as he went to catch up with her.

The first place Lily took him was to the open markets. Just getting near the market he could already smell the sweet foods being made.

"Oh! Over here! They make the best pancakes!" Lily said, pulling him towards a stall.

"Hey there! Can I interest you two in some of these? They're fresh from the heat." The man at the stall said.

"Of course! Two please!" Lily said before handing over some Eris for the food.

"Enjoy!" The man said, handing them two pancakes with some paper to hold them.

Over on the side was the toppings. Kazuma opted for simply just drizzling syrup on his while Lily drizzled some chocolate syrup and topped it with whipped cream.

They took a bite out of their food, making them exclaim at the taste.

"This is so good!" Kazuma exclaimed, surprised at how light and fluffy the pancake was, and how simple yet sweet it was.

"Right?! I told you early morning was the best time to get some breakfast!" Lily said, putting a hand on her hip, striking a proud pose.

"Yes, yes. Oh, you have some cream on your face." Kazuma pointed out, which got Lily to wipe her face with her thumb before eating the cream.

"Thank you, but there's still more to see, so I hope you're ready!" Lily said as she finished off her pancake.

'So energetic, I wonder if I'll be able to keep up.' Kazuma thought to himself before finishing off his.

They spent about an hour going around the market, eating different kinds of foods that were being offered in the morning.

By this time the streets were starting to fill up more, so the two decided to stop at a bench to relax for a moment while eating a doughnut and a warm mug of hot chocolate.

"It's so cool how the wife of the guy selling these was making hot chocolate!" Lily exclaimed.

"It's amazing, and this hot chocolate isn't burning hot, it's just right." Kazuma said before taking a sip of it.

"So that was just the general market, we still have more ground to cover, so is there anywhere specific you want to go?" Lily asked as she finished her food and drink.

Kazuma finished his food before responding. "Hmmm, well I guess for starters a weapon shop, I lost my sword back in the forest so I need a new one. Also perhaps a place that can repair my mantle." Kazuma said as he took it out of his satchel.

"Well then we can visit the local weapons smith in the east market, he's real famous around here for making formidable weapons. Dale goes there often for repairs on his gear. As for that, perhaps a tailor in the south." Lily suggested.

"Sounds good!" Kazuma said before they both got up.

Lily lead Kazuma through the big paths of the eastern side. There were many shops that seemed geared towards adventurers. From shops of beginning smiths to shops run by Arc-Wizards with powerful magical gear. He also saw a few groups of geared up adventurers walking by.

'I wonder if I should try to make another party here...' Kazuma thought to himself.

"We're here!" Lily said, snapping him from his thoughts.

Kazuma looked at the shop, the sign read "Smith's Forge". It was a decently sized shop, about the size of a house, but more purposely designed for the shops needs.

They entered the shop and were greeted by a burly, bald man with a beard. "Hey there! Welcome to my shop!"

The walls were lined with an array of weapons. From daggers to long swords, spears and maces, and a bunch of shields and armour on stands.

"Hello John!" Lily waved.

"Lily! Nice to see ya again! How's Dale liking the repairs I made on his sword?" John asked her.

"Oh he's happy with it, he'd prefer to use his own sword than the ones the ones they give you from the armoury there." Lily said.

"Aye, I hear you. Anywho, did you bring me a new customer?" He asked, pointng at Kazuma.

"Yes! This is Kazuma. He's in need of a new weapon after he lost his previous one." Lily said as Kazuma just waved.

"Well pleased to meet ya! Name's John Smith! I run this fine shop here!"

'Are you for real?! John Smith?! That sounds like a name someone uses as a fake name!' Kazuma screamed internally.

"P-Pleased to meet you." Kazuma stuttered, trying not to laugh.

"So, what're you in the market for?"

"Like Lily said, I lost my last sword due to an incident, so I need a new one."

"I see, well I have many swords available, or if you'd like I can make one to order. It'll cost ya more but sometimes they can be more suitable to the user."

"How much would a custom short sword cost me?"

"A well done one will cost ya around eighty thousand eris."

Kazuma paled 'Eighty thousand! That's a majority of the money that I have on me... But I do need a reliable weapon...'

"I-I'll take that option then." Kazuma said as he rummaged through his satchel to take out the eris.

"Excellent! Now come around the back and we can discuss the specifications." John said as he opened the door to the back room.

They entered the backroom where it contained all the necessities for a smith. A forge to heat up metal, a large anvil for metal forming, a stone wheel for sharpening and a whole bunch of other advanced tools.

They spent several hours in the room, deciding on materials, pommel styles, colours and more. After they finally had a plan in mind, the two exited the store.

"That took quite some time." Lily said as she stretched.

"Yeah, it did. But at least now I'll soon have a sword again. Just have to wait a few days before it's ready." Kazuma said with a smile.

"Now then, how about we go visit the tailor?" Lily said.

"Wait! There was another place I wanted to check out, and it might be in this area." Kazuma quickly said.

"Oh? Where might that be?"

"Is there any sort of adventurers' guild here? I need another card after the guards took my adventurer's card and left it with my old party." Kazuma explained.

"Of course! That's a bit further down east so we should go there first!"

"Okay!"

The two walked down the path where a large building stood. It looked like a large house rather than the one back at Axel, but it was significantly tal. At the front was immediately a woman with long brown hair behind a counter with a quill and paper. On the upper floor the could see people sitting at tables being served food and drinks.

The two approached the counter which took the woman's attention from what she was doing.

"Hello! Welcome to the Adventurers' Guild, how may I help you today?"

"I was wondering if I can make a new Adventurer Card? I lost mine a while back and I need it to update my skills."

"Understood. Just so you know, once you create this one, your old one will automatically be wiped of its information of you, meaning it will be a blank card again. You will still retain your skills, points, levels and stats. It's just simply a safety precaution that happens when more than one card is made for a person. Also it will cost you the same amount as the registration fee." The woman explained.

"Understood, I'm glad at least then, no one can tamper with my old card."

"Yes! Now then, let's get you a new card."

After a few moments, Kazuma got a new card created for him. He was glad to see that everything was as he remembered. If anything a few points in his stats went up a bit from the monsters he killed before.

Kazuma and Lily left the building while Kazuma was admiring his new card.

"I'm glad everything worked out well for you." Lily said with a laugh at how Kazuma was looking at his card.

"Me too!" He exclaimed.

"Now then, let's head to the tailor now!" Lily said as she dragged him off.

As the two headed down the southern section, the shops slowly transitioned from adventurer related stuff to goods for the everyday kind of life. Food, groceries, general shops, clothing, accessories.

There were many children running up and down the roads, housewives talking about and men at some bars drinking together.

Kazuma had to admit, because of his travels, he quite missed this kind of atmosphere. Where he wasn't on the run, worried that if he revealed his identity anywhere he would be arrested. Just enjoying a day out in the town with a friend.

He was pulled out of his thoughts when Lily tapped him on the shoulder.

"We're here!"

"Oh, sorry, I've just been doing a lot of thinking."

"It's alright, but let's go inside."

"Right."

The two entered the shop where they saw the owner dealing with three other customers.

The owner had a darker blonde hair with eyes the same colour as her hair, wore glasses and had her hair tied up. Though she had dark bags under her eyes and her hair was slightly messy, indicating a lack of sleep.

The three customers she had were a male and two girls. The male having black hair and green eyes, wearing a green cape of sorts, and had a look that seemed very stern. The weird thing about him was the small shield on his arm, yet no other weapon was on him, despite one of the girls having a sword on her hip. The girl with the sword was a redhead with long hair, her eyes matching her hair. The smaller girl, who was currently hanging off the male's neck, seemed much younger than the two, even younger than Megumin, had golden blonde hair and bright blue eyes, and wore a blue dress that seemed to be brand new, perhaps the owner made it.

"I mean, sure, she looks cute..." The red head said pouting slightly.

"Doesn't she?!" The owner shouted, sliding behind them

"I did my very best to bring out every last bit of her angelic charm!" The owner said putting her hands on her hips, admiring her work.

'The hell did we just walk into?' Kazuma thought to himself as he watch the group.

Eventually the customers left, leaving the two with the owner.

"Oh, Welcome! Sorry about that. They requested a dress to be made for the young one and I couldn't help but go all out... Anyways, my name's Bonnie, how can I help you?"

"Right, I was wondering if you could repair this for me." Kazuma said, pulling out his mantle, showing the tear that had formed.

"Of course! Though that will have to wait, I worked myself ragged so I need some rest." Bonnie said, letting out a yawn.

"That's no problem, I'll come by in a few days to pick it up then."

"Thank you for understanding." Bonnie said, bowing.

They quickly discussed the cost before he paid her.

Kazuma and Lily exited the store to allow Bonnie to put out the closed sign.

They saw the sun was starting to go down, with the sky changing from blue to orange.

"It's gotten so late so fast, how about we grab some dinner before we go home?" Lily suggested.

"Sounds great!"

The two went to a nearby restraint that had seats on the roof, which the two opted for.

Kazuma had ordered some fried frog legs and fried potatoes, while Lily ordered for a pork stew with some bread on the side.

As the two waited for they food, Lily decided to strike up a conversation.

"Hey Kazuma?"

"Hmm? Yes, what is it?"

"Can you tell me more about your party, back in Axel?" Lily asked, which got Kazuma to smile a bit.

"Well, where do I start? First, there's Aqua, the useless Arch-Priest. She's honestly the biggest troublemaker there is, constantly raising our debt and doing nothing but drinking and spending her skill points on party tricks like "Nature's Beauty".

Next there's Megumin, a one trick pony of an Arch-Wizard who can only use one spell before she runs herself completely empty of mana, forcing me to have to carry her.

And finally there's Darkness, the perverted masochist Crusader who can't hit anything worth a damn but has such a strong defence that it almost makes up for it."

"They sound like quite a group..." Lily was amazed to hear what kind of group Kazuma had to deal with.

"They were, but..." Kazuma looked off towards the sunset.

"They also had their good points.

Without Aqua, I wouldn't even be here, in fact she resurrected me twice now (technically one is a reincarnation but let's not deal with that), and with her strong holy power she was able to purify a Demon King General and even single handedly take down the Destroyer's barrier.

Megumin may only know one attack, but it's a damn powerful attack. She's weakened the same General that Aqua took down with it, and with the help of another Arch Wizard their explosion magic is what grounded the Destroyer, and it was her who was able to finish it off. Not to mention the daily explosions we would go on.

Lastly, Darkness may not be able to hit a damn thing, but her high defence has kept us safe in the past. Things that would most certainly knock us down or even kill us doesn't phase her. She held her own somewhat against the General, and was the bravest among all of us against the Destroyer, standing far ahead than the rest of us, even if she felt she had to do it out of pride or duty."

"Wow... They sound kinda amazing now."

"Yeah, we were quite the party. Sometimes the Adventurer's Guild would call us specifically for a job because despite our unorthodox methods, we get the job done."

There was a moment of silence before their food arrived.

The two ate, chatting a bit more about Kazuma's life in Axel, while also a bit of Lily herself

After the two had finished eating they left the restaurant and were making their way back to Lily's house.

"Hey, Kazuma?"

"Yes?"

"Do you miss your party?"

"Hmm... Honestly, I do." Kazuma said with a smile.

"May I ask why? Not to be rude or anything but they did ditch you when you were being arrested. Shouldn't you be absolutely furious?"

"Perhaps I should be mad. But... at the same time I can't. They're basically my family here in this world. The closest people I have. We've been through so much together it's hard. Though I am kinda mad about how they threw me under the bus. But at the same time, wouldn't you hesitate to help if you were told that trying to defend me would GUARANTEE that you would be arrested?"

"W-Well I guess..."

"And so would I. Perhaps they should've done more, and who knows, maybe they would've tried something if I had stayed, maybe not something very effective, but they would've tried." Kazuma said, smiling knowing exactly how they would try to save him only to fall slightly short.

"I see. I was just curious, but now I understand where you're coming from. And it sounds like you care quite a lot about your friends." Lily said with a giggle.

"Yeah, I do, though if I ever see them again I'm probably gonna smack them over their heads for leaving me hanging in the first place."

"Well hopefully you can see them again one day."

"Hopefully."

* * *

**Welp, long chapter again.****Also did anyone get the reference I threw in?**


	15. Chapter 15

"EVERYONE!!! YOU HAVE TO SEE THIS!!!" Megumin screamed as she busted through the door to the living room where Aqua and Darkness were, startling the both of them.

"Megumin! What's wrong, is there an intruder?!" Darkness asked, quickly standing up.

"No! It's Kazuma's Adventurer's Card, it's gone blank!" Megumin said as she showed the two the card that had been wiped of Kazuma's info.

"Wait wait wait, why would it be blank?!" Aqua questioned as she snatched the card from Megumin, trying to poke at it for something to happen.

"I don't know! I was just looking at it in my room when suddenly the text began to glow. Next thing I knew it was gone!"

"Wait, you don't think...?" Aqua started, but trailed off.

"No! I refuse to believe Kazuma is dead! Someone like him wouldn't die so easily. Perhaps there is simply wrong with his card?" Darkness suggested to them.

"That must be it! We should go to the Adventurer's Guild and ask Luna about this!" Megumin exclaimed.

"Well let's get to it!" Aqua said.

The girls quickly got ready and rushed out of the mansion, making a beeline for the Guild.

They rushed through the busy streets of Axel, not caring for who was in their way, they needed answers.

The doors to the Guild slammed open, startling everyone. Once the occupants saw who entered they relaxed, knowing it was just the usual.

"Hello there! What brings you there here today?" Luna asked.

"It's about Kazuma's Adventurer Card, its gone blank!" Megumin said as she gave Luna the card.

"We were wondering if you knew anything about this, after all, you do work here." Darkness explained.

"Please tell us, is Kazuma... Is he dead?!" Aqua asked.

Luna looked at the card for a moment before giggling a bit, earning the confusion of the others.

"You have nothing to worry about. If this happened then Kazuma is not dead." Luna said as she gave back the card.

"What do you mean?" Darkness asked.

"Follow me." Luna said as she entered through the door for guild employees. She opened a drawer that was lined with rows of cards, organized alphabetically. She took one out of the drawer and handed it to them.

"When an adventurer dies, their card will display that information." Luna explained.

They looked at the card and saw a mans face. On top of his face however, was a large red bar going across his face, with the word "Deceased" on it.

"In Kazuma's case here, what I can guess happened was that Kazuma was able to get another Adventurer's Card made for him, which wipes the previous card of it's information as a safety precaution."

"So, what you're saying is...?" Megumin asked for confirmation.

"Yes! Kazuma is still alive and well, perhaps somewhere safe too if he was able to make a new card as only official Guild locations can issue a new one." Luna stated.

The three visibly relaxed, knowing that Kazuma was somewhere safe.

The three thanked Luna before leaving.

"It's relieving to know Kazuma is still safe after all this time." Darkness said, getting the others to nod in agreement.

"Though I wonder where exactly he went after everything that happened. It's not like he could get a new card somewhere in Belzerg without them noticing who the card was for." Megumin said as she looked at the empty card.

"Hopefully we can find some clue. Until then, we have to do our best!" Aqua said as she pumped a fist into the air.

"So, where are we going now?" Aqua asked.

"I figured we should pay Wiz a visit. Despite her products being of dubious value, there are few valuable items to be found." Darkness said, which got Aqua to pout at the thought of having to visit the Lich again.

They made their way over to Wiz's shop, who greeted them with a somewhat sad smile. She was friends with Kazuma after all, despite his... "certain" tendancies, so she felt some sympathy for the 3 man party.

"Welcome you three! How are you all?"

"We're fine, we just came from the Guild." Megumim said as she inspected a shelf while Aqua sat down at the usual table.

"Did you have some business there?" Wiz asked.

"Well, Kazuma's Adventurer Card was wiped of it's information, so we rushed over to ask about it as we thought he had perhaps died. But Luna informed us that Kazuma must have made a new card, which is why the card was wiped." Darkness said.

"That sounds great! I'm glad to hear some hint that Kazuma is still alive." Wiz exclaimed.

"We all are."

"Well then, what brings you three here today?" Wiz asked.

"We just came to look for any potential usefull items we could use when we take another quest." Darkness explained.

"Oh! If you want to take a quest, then perhaps you could help me with something? Of course I will pay you!"

"Nani nani, you have a quest for us?" Aqua perked up at the oportunity for money.

"Yes! I had a big order to deliver to a village but I haven't had the chance to go. Can I ask you three deliver it for me?"

"Sure! It would be nice to get out of town for a bit." Aqua exclaimed.

"Thank you! As for the village you'll be going to, the name of the village is..."

* * *

The three were making their way to the village wiz had told them to go to. They had to rent a horse drawn carriage to deliver the goods, but Wiz had covered the cost for it. Darkness was driving while Aqua and Megumin were in the carriage.

"Ahhh, it feels good to go out once in a while. Even if its a quest it's not one involving monsters." Aqua said as she stretched.

It was a good day. The bright blue skies weren't too cloudy so at times they got some shade, but it was also still bright and sunny which reflected off the grass with vibrant colours.

"We have been a bit busy lately. We had to grow a little bit in order to survive this ordeal after all." Darkness said, which the other two understood what she meant.

"So how long until we get to the village?" Megumin asked.

"Not long, look, it's just over there." Darkness pointed towards the distance.

The other two looked to where she was pointing, and true to her word the village was in the distance.

"What was the name of the village again Darkness?" Aqua asked.

"Wiz said it was the "Village of Lux"."

"That's kinda like calling it the "Village of Light", doesn't it?" Megumin said.

"Perhaps, but it doesn't matter. We just need to deliver these goods for Wiz."

The rest of the ride was in relative silence with a few conversations taking place, but for the most part they just relaxed at the good weather that they were graced with.

When they reached the village they quickly found the person the delivery was for and the job was completed easily.

"Well that was over pretty quickly." Megumin said.

"Right? Maybe we should hang out here for a bit, I hear this village makes amazing cherry pies!" Aqua suggested.

"That sounds like a great idea, the season is perfect for them right now." Darkness said.

"Alright, let's get some pie!" Aqua cheered as she dashed to the nearby bakery. The other two looked at each other, smiling at Aqua's antics before following her.

When they arrived Aqua had already ordered 3 slices, one for each of them, and sat down at a table outside as she waited.

Once they sat down with Aqua a man walked out with the food and served them.

"Here ya go, some of our famous sweet cherry pie." The man said.

The three took a bite of out the slices and immediately exclaimed about the taste.

"Amazing!"

"Such a sweet flavour!"

"This pie is the best!"

"Hahaha, I'm glad ya liked it. Honestly we have to thank that stranger who came by recently.

"What do you mean?" Darkness asked.

"Well, around two weeks ago, a stranger came by and took our request to collect cherries that grew deep in the forest nearby. It's riddled with monsters but he managed to collect a basket full of cherries, so we paid him handsomely."

"Did you not get his name" She asked, which got the man to flinch slightly.

"N-No, I didn't. He just came and delivered the goods. I did give him a slice of pie though. I didn't get a good look at him since he was wearing a black cloak around town.

Darkness and Megumin looked at him, noticing how he flinched when they asked about this stranger. Meanwhile Aqua was too busy eating the pie to listen.

She finished her slice, to which got her to order another one, allowing the man to escape the conversation and head back to retrieve the food.

"That seemed odd." Darkness said.

"It was like he didn't want to tell us who it was that gave him the cherries." Megumin said.

The two thought more about it while Aqua looked at the two completely clueless.

* * *

"Man... that was a really good pie." Aqua said as she rubbed her stomach.

"It was quite a treat. I don't think Axel has anything like that, so it was pleasant to have." Darkness said.

"Still... That whole thing with that guy, I can't help but notice..." Megumin trailed off as she thought about it.

"So you noticed it too. Around that time, that was when Kazuma escaped from his arrest. Perhaps he came here to earn a bit of eris and buy supplies before he left. The only question though is where he went from here." Darkness said.

The three walked more into town where they encountered a request board that had a few things on it. However, the post that caught their attention was a wanted posted, Kazuma's wanted poster.

"Even here... He has one here too..." Megumin said sadly as she walked up to the board. The other two walked behind her and each put a hand on her shoulders.

"Don't worry, Megumin. We'll find him somehow." Darkness said.

"Yeah, where ever he is, he's safe, so don't worry." Aqua said, giving her a thumbs up.

"Hey, you there! What are you doing?" Shouted a male voice that startled the three. They turned around to see two men, one with black hair and one with brown, staring at them with a sort of angry look.

"What business do you have with Kazuma?" The one with brown hair asked.


	16. Chapter 16

"What business do you have with Kazuma?" Asked a brown haired tall man.

The way the two looked the girls, it intimidated them slightly. They seemed angry.

"Why should that be any of your concern? Whatever kind of business we have with him doesn't involve you!" Aqua exclaimed.

"As a matter of fact, it kinda does concern us, especially when people are after him." Said the black haired one, stepping forward a bit.

"We aren't "after" Kazuma, but we'd like to know what kind of relationship you have with him." Darkness asked as she held a defensive stance.

"Why should we tell you? You could be dangerous people after all." The brown haired one said.

The two guys and the two girls stared at each other closely, seeing who would make a move.

However.

The tension was broken as Megumin tugged on the tunic of the brown haired male.

"Please, if you know anything about Kazuma, can you tell us? We're just worried about him..." Megumin said with a sad look, which threw him off guard.

The two men looked at each other before they sighed.

"Alright, come with us."

They girls were led by the two through the village to a nearby park where they sat down around a table.

"So, first let us introduce ourselves. My name is Ralph, that there is my brother John." The man, now revealed to them as Ralph, said.

"I'm Megumin."

"Darkness."

"And I'm Aqua! Goddess of water and deity of the Axis- mmph!" Aqua was cut off by Darkness covering her mouth with her hand.

"So, once again, how do you three know Kazuma?" Ralph asked.

"We're friends with Kazuma. We were in a party together with him until..." Megumin started explaining.

"Kazuma was arrested by the imperial knights, but he fled. We don't know where he is or where he went. The only thing we know is that he's safe." Darkness finished explaining.

"Wait, how do you know he's safe?" John asked.

"His adventurer's card was recently wiped of it's information, meaning he must have made a new one. If he was able to make one then perhaps he's in a place where he could safely make one. The only issue is we don't know where that is."

"I see..."

"Do you happen to know where he went?"

"We do, but before that, let us ask you a question. You guys were in a party with him, right?" Ralph asked.

"That is correct."

"So you're the ones who left him hanging then?"

That got all of the girls to tense up.

"So he's told you then?" Darkness asked.

"He has. He told us about you guys. What an amazing party you guys were. Taking down one of the Demon Lord's General, and the Destroyer. And how you left him on his own."

"We didn't just leave him! Please, just tell us where-"

Ralph slammed his fist on the table.

"And why should I help you lot?! Traitors like you should never find him."

"Excuse me?!" Aqua cried out.

"What do you expect us to do? He was going to be convicted as a terrorist and if we opposed that at all, we would've been right alongside him to be potentially executed! What else could we have done?!"

"Anything other than just leaving him alone! I don't know what you intend to do when you find him again, I bet it's nothing good. You should just staw away from-" Ralph was cut off by Megumin slamming her hands on the table and standing up.

Tears were rolling down her face. Seeing her like this shocked both the other girls and the brothers.

"Enough... We just want to find Kazuma. He's a very important friend of ours and we don't know where he is... He may be somewhere safe but we're worried about him. Yes we may have left him hanging, he has every right to hate us and call us traitors. But we still need to find him... We miss him, we care about him, we just want him back, even if he doesn't want us back..." She ran off from the table.

They watched as Megumin ran away, tears trailing her path. Ralph sighed while John gave him a concerned look.

"Brother..."

"Now look at what I've done, made a little girl cry..."

There was a moment of silence. The two girls didn't know what else to do now.

"You guys..." Ralph spoke up, which got their attention.

"You really don't intend to harm Kazuma?" They nodded in response.

"Sigh... Alright fine, let's find you friend and I'll tell you about him." They all got up and went to look for Megumin.

They found her in the carriage they arrived in, curled up and crying.

"Hey." Ralph greeted, which got her to flinch before she looked up at him.

"Come on out, I'll tell ya what you want to know."

She looked to Darkness and Aqua for confirmation, to which they gave her thumbs up.

She slowly got up and went over to them.

"Now then, what do you know about Kazuma?" Darkness asked.

"He came here a while ago, dressed in a black cloak that made him look shady. He took a request off the board to collect some cherries down in the forest."

"That's right, the guy there said that a stranger got them. He wouldn't tell us it was Kazuma because he's wanted." Aqua said.

"Right. I guess he used his money to buy a weapon, which he used when he helped us by killing some wild boars. He told us about you guys, though he never mentioned anything about this." Ralph said as he looked over at the wanted poster.

"So where did he go?" Megumin asked.

"He stayed around for a few days before leaving with William to the capital. It was an escort request so I bet he must have split at some point before the capital, otherwise he would have been caught. William's still at the capital, but he should be back by next week. Maybe then you can ask him about where Kazuma went." Ralph finished explaining.

The girls looked at each other. They finally found a lead, but they would have to wait longer until this William returned.

They looked back at Ralph.

"Thank you very much for this information. It means a lot to us." Darkness said.

"No problem, I hope you find him." Ralph said.

The brothers bid their farewells before the left.

"So what do we do now?" Aqua asked.

"We come back another time to inquire this William about Kazuma. In the mean time, we have to get stronger if we want to look for him." Darkness said.

"Then let's hurry back to Axel!" Megumin said.

Megumin and Aqua sat in the carriage again while darkness took the reins.

As they made their way back to Axel, a single thought passed through their heads.

'Hold on Kazuma, we'll find you.'


	17. Chapter 17

"Are you sure you'll be fine on your own today?" Lily asked as she was getting ready to leave.

Kazuma had spent a few days familiarizing himself with Lorm city, especially the area around Lily's house. He wanted to get used to the city without relying on Lily to guide him everywhere he went.

"Yes yes, I'll be fine, don't worry about it. If anything I'm pumped up for today!" Kazuma reassured her.

"If you say so... I'll be back by tomorrow afternoon, so take care of yourself, alright?"

Lily was heading out because she was hired to join a party today for her healing magic. She had mentioned to him before that her skills were even required at some hospitals in the city, making herself quite well known. Though she was not at the same level as Aqua who could use resurrection. Even then, her skills with combat magic was also very high, making her an excellent mage.

"Of course, don't worry about it!" Kazuma said, giving her a thumbs up.

Lily let out a sigh before she said goodbye and headed out.

Now that Kazuma was on his own, he quickly went to get dressed for the day.

Today was the day he was to pick up his new sword and repaired mantle, so he wanted to go on a quest since it had been some time since his last one.

Once he was ready, he locked up before he took off. As he was walking, he thought about how he had spent the last few days.

He spent the last few days hanging out with Lily, and occasionally Dale, when he wasn't exploring the city. Surprisingly he's been enjoying his time with the two. Dale is a really cool guy to hang out with. They went to the Guild to get some drinks where they told some stories of their past.

There was one particular story that was really funny. While he was still in training, his group of soldiers attended a summer camp where they trained in the mountains. They had stayed at an inn that had hot springs. One night, he and a bunch of guys had the (predictable) idea of trying to peek at the girls. When they made their attempt by using an employee door, they were caught by the captain, who was a woman, who scared the living hell out of them. It was like the Devil King himself had resided in her body as she reprimanded them. That night he and the guys who joined him were strung up in public and humiliated.

It didn't take long for him to realize he had made it to the "Smith's Forge". He stared at the sign for some time before he couldn't help but snicker a bit.

'The fact that the man who runs this shop is named John Smith is just really amusing.' Kazuma thought to himself.

He shook his head to clear his thoughts before he entered.

"Hey there Kazuma, just in time for your new weapon! Couldn't wait, huh?" John asked as he waved at Kazuma.

"I've been slacking around for quite a while now, can't wait to get back out there." Kazuma said as he took swings with an imaginary sword.

John laughed. "I like your enthusiasm! Come around the back and I'll show you what I made!" John said as he waved him over, entering the door to the back.

Kazuma followed him into the room to see on a table a sword wrapped in a cloth.

John picked up the weapon and brought it over to Kazuma.

"Are you ready?" John asked.

Kazuma nodded his head. He carefully unwrapped the cloth. When the cloth was fully removed, he marveled at his new weapon.

Its blade shined a bright grey while it seemed extremely sharp, its hilt and pommel donned with gold, and the grip was green. Imbued the blade was a green gem, which reflected light beautifully. It was a well crafted sword that's for certain.

"What do you think?" John asked.

"I love it!"

"Hahaha! That's good to hear! Now make sure to kill a bunch of monsters with it, I didn't craft that sword to hang on the wall as decoration!"

"You got it!"

After thanking John, Kazuma strapped the sword on his hip and left, jogging over to the Guild.

When he entered he could hear a bunch of people talking up above at the dining area, where a bunch of parties were eating. Many were eating, and some were just drinking, having a good time with each other. It reminded Kazuma of all the times he partied in the Guild at Axel. He smiled slightly at memory before he felt his stomach growl. In his excitement he forgot to eat before leaving, making him have to go up for a meal.

He was greeted by one of the waitresses before being seated near the corner. He browsed over the menu before finally settling on some boar meat served with potatoes. He ate in relative silence, though the other tables were loud. He finished his meal and paid for it before he walked down to the Quest board.

Like usual, there were a bunch of quests, ranging from low danger quests with low rewards to ones needing a party full of advanced classes that would reward millions of eris.

_'I should probably start with something fairly easy. I haven't been active for almost a week now, so my moves might be a bit sluggish'_ Kazuma thought to himself as he looked over the quests.

He finally settled on a quest to take care of a camp of goblins that had settled in the forest to the west of the city. The reward would turn out to ten thousand eris.

After he initiated the quest, he set off to Bonnie's shop for his mantle. He had felt like that green cape of his had become a staple of his look, so there was no way he could go off adventuring without it.

As he walked through the southern section of the city, two boys that were playing tag just ahead of him. One one ahead didn't watch where he was going and bumped into Kazuma, causing him to fall on his behind.

Kazuma crouched down to the boy and asked "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm alright." The boy responded.

"Good, now you better run, your friend is gonna catch you."

"Oh no! Bye mister!" The boy said as he quickly got up and ran, the other one running past him to give chase.

Kazuma smiled at the two boys as they ran off. It somewhat reminded him about his own childhood, that is to say the more positive parts of it.

He continued his stride towards Bonnie's shop, which had the sign set to open. He entered the shop, bell ringing from the door, and Bonnie called out from inside. "I'll be right there!"

She then quickly emerged from the back to greet him.

"Kazuma! Here to pick up your mantle?" She asked. She had learned his name from the first time he visited.

"Yeah, is it ready?" He asked her.

"Yes! Right here! I got to say, it was quite damaged, but that didn't stop me from fixing it!" She said as she handed him his mantle.

Kazuma inspected it to see the repairs. He was amazed to find that the thing looked almost like the day he bought it.

"It's perfect! Thank you!" Kazuma said as he slipped on the green cape.

He looked in the mirror to see his familiar look. He was ready.

"Perfect! Not only does the green and gold colors suit you nicely, the gold parts and green jewel from your sword that can be seen through your scabbard match it perfectly!" Bonnie said as she admired the look.

Kazuma couldn't help buy agree with her, the sword was a nice touch to the look compared to the standard sword he had back at Axel.

He thanked Bonnie for the mending and set off for the quest.

* * *

It took him close to two hours to go from the Bonnie's shop to the forest where the camp of goblins were located at. He was constantly using "Detect Enemy" to see if he could find them easy, but so far he hadn't found anything on his radar.

'This is odd, they said the camp was supposed to be around here...' Kazuma thought to himself. He ventured further into the forest and found what seemed like a campsite. There were a few campfires and makeshift weapons that goblins use around the area.

'This is the camp, but where are the monsters?'

Just as he thought this, a scream rang out from deeper into the forest. Kazuma honed in on the sound and ran deeper into the forest. The light was becoming more dim as the forest got thicker. He activated his skill again as he ran around, looking for the person who screamed. After some time, he finally picked something up to his right. He paused for a moment to see if he could spot the goblin. He first saw a figure running in a direction, before the goblin he picked up was chasing said figure.

'There they are!' Before he could make a move, his skill flared up even more as he detected even more goblins following the lone one.

'Crap!'

Kazuma quickly chased after the figure and single goblin.

He used "Lurk" to make himself harder to detect while giving himself a bit of a speed boost. He soon caught up to the two and drew his sword. Drawing near, he swiftly stabbed the newly made sword clean through the goblin, stopping it in its tracks, effectively killing it.

The figure stopped running when it noticed the goblin stopped chasing it.

Kauzma pulled the sword out of the goblin, letting it fall to the ground, before he spoke. "Are you okay?" He asked.

The figure got closer, revealing to be a black haired girl, around his age, dressed in normal clothes, indicating she was not an adventurer.

"Yes, thank you. But my younger sister, she's still being chased!"

Kazuma turned around where he could sense the other goblins still making their way to them.

"Alright, you get out of here, I'll find your sister." She nodded and turned towards the nearest exit from the forest.

Before she had fully gone out of view, she turned around to shout at him.

"When you find her, say "petunias"! It's a safe word for whenever someone she doesn't know, but I do, comes to help her!"

"Will do!" He shouted back.

She then turned back around and continued to run.

Kazuma turned towards the group of goblins that had finally caught up to him. They stopped before him, noticing their dead comrade at his feet. They growled at Kazuma before they charged at him.

Kazuma swung his sword and knocked back one, dodging another that got closer to him.

'This sword, it feels so well balanced, and quite light!' Kazuma marveled at the sword.

While he was admiring his new sword? he didn't notice that one had ran around him and hit him in the back with a club, knocking him onto the ground.

"Damn... that hurt." Kazuma narrowly dodged another swing from the goblin and kicked it away.

"I gotta be careful, Aqua isn't around to heal me anymore, neither is Darkness to tank all the hits."

He took a stance, ready for any attacks the goblins were to do.

They all charged at him at him at once, which gave him the opportunity to use "Lurk" to sneak around behind them quickly. With his blade gripped tightly, he swung and managed to leave a large cut in every one of their backs. They fell onto the floor, bleeding out from their wounds.

"It's a good thing goblins aren't particularly powerful, that was quite a lot."

Just as he was catching his breath, he heard another scream, from the sounds of it a younger female than the one he ran into, deeper in the woods.

"That must be her sister!" Kazuma darted towards the source.

Darker and darker the forest got as he went deeper until he finally picked up a goblin on his radar. He found the goblin standing above a fallen girl, hair color similar to the one from earlier, club raised and ready to strike a killing blow.

"Tinder!" Kazuma chanted, causing a small fireball to land on the goblin's club. It lit on fire, startling the goblin and causing it to panic, making it move away from the girl.

He got close to it and tackled the goblin, driving his sword into it's chest, killing it.

Kazuma sat for a moment, catching his breath. He extracted the sword from the corpse, wiping off any blood with a cloth before sheathing his sword. He then approached the little girl.

"Hey there, are you lost?" He asked her.

She nodded, but was slightly afraid of him.

"You were here with your sister, right?"

She nodded again.

"Come on, she's waiting for you."

The girl didn't move.

"Oh right, I believe the thing she told me to say was "petunias", right?" He asked.

The girl's face lit up.

"So you're gonna take me to my sister?" She asked him.

"Of course!"

The girl stood up slowly before he led her towards the direction of her sister. They spent quite a bit of time walking through the forest. Once they were close to leaving the forest, they saw the girl from earlier at the edge, waiting for them.

"Big sister!" The small girl shouted as she ran to the other girl.

"There you are! I was so worried about you." She said as she hugged the smaller girl.

"Thank you so much!" She said to Kazuma.

"It was no problem, glad I was there to help!" He responded.

The two talked a little bit more before the two girls said their goodbyes and left.

Kazuma then just fell on his back, back resting on the grass as he stared at the evening sky. The sun was starting to set, making the sky a orangy purple.

"What a day... I guess it was a good thing I took that quest then..." Kazuma said, closing his eyes, enjoying the weather.

He stayed still for a bit until...

"Wait crap!" Kazuma shot up.

"I have to hurry back before the guild closes!"

He quickly got up and ran back towards Lorm.

Once he was far in the distance, a cloaked girl emerged from the shadows of the forest.

"Interesting, he's doing well now. Just you wait Kazuma... Anak will have his revenge... I, Raze, WILL have my revenge on you for the humliation you put me through!" The cloaked girl, now named Raze, looked up more, revealing to be the same girl from the Blood Eyed Bandits who stabbed him.

"Enjoy your peace while it lasts Kazuma, you will pay..." She said with a wicked smile.


	18. Chapter 18

It was the day after Kazuma had gone out for the quest. He was sitting in Lily's house hanging out with Dale. Lily wasn't home yet, but she was already outside, ready to enter.

She opened the door and greeted the two.

"Hey there you guys! How are you?" She asked as she entered, plopping her bag on the floor.

"We're doing alright, just us bros hanging out." Dale responded as she came around to hug the two.

When she hugged Kazuma, he let out a yelp of pain.

"Ow! Careful!" He said, getting her to let go of him.

"Sorry sorry! Are you injured?" She asked.

"Yeah, a bit."Kazuma said as he rubbed his back.

"Let me see!" She said, lifting up the back of his shirt, revealing some bandages wrapped around his torso.

"Wha- Hey! Don't just lift up my shirt without my permission!" He shouted as he pulled it back down.

"What happened to you?" Lily asked.

"Well..." Kazuma spent some time explaining what happened on the quest he took.

* * *

**Sometime after Kazuma rescued the sisters**

Kazuma was running as fast as he could back to Lorm. "Crap crap crap crap! I didn't even realize the sun had started setting, the guild is gonna close if I don't hurry!"

The building itself wouldn't close until late night, but the quest manager in Lorm closes by 8 PM. With the way the sun was currently at, Kazuma guessed it was around 7 PM.

As he ran, he caught up to the sisters he rescued.

"Mister! Wait up!" The younger one called out as he passed them. He stopped and quickly ran over to them.

"Yes... What's... Wrong?" Kazuma asked between gasps of air.

She let go of her sister's hand and gave him a hug, though she mainly hugged his legs because of the height difference.

"I- W-What?" Kazuma stammered, surprised by the gesture.

"Thank you for saving me and my big sister!" She said, giving him a big smile.

"Oh dear, looks like Lena is quite fond of you now." The older sister said.

"What?"

"Oh, pardon me. My name is Sae, and that little one that's hugging your legs is Lena."

"Oh, pleased to meet you, name's Kazuma." He said as he gave a hand to shake.

"Pleased to meet you too Kazuma." She grabbed his hand and shook it.

"I have to say though, thank you for saving us. If it weren't for you we would've been goners. You have my gratitude." She bowed slightly in gratitude.

"O-Oh, it's no biggie, I'm just glad you two are safe." He said as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"You're headed back to Lorm, right? We live there too." She asked.

"Yeah, that's right, I- CRAP! THE GUILD!" He shouted in realization.

He managed to get Lena to let go of his leg.

"Sorry, but I have to go, take care!" He said as he ran off, the two waving as he left.

"Bye bye!"

"See you next time Kazuma!"

Kazuma was in complete full sprint, with the additional boost from spamming "Lurk".

He soon saw the entrance to Lorm come into view.

'Almost there!' Kazuma cheered.

Just as he reached the gate, he bumped into a guard, knocking them both down.

"Ow... Sorry! I was in a rush!" Kazuma apologized.

"No biggie, are you alright?" The guard asked.

"Yea, I'm alrig- Wait, Dale?" Kazuma asked once he noticed who he bumped into.

"Kazuma? What brings you here?" Dale asked.

"I was on my way to the Guild, I wanted to turn in the quest before it closes."

"Oh, in that case you might be too late, it's already past eight now." Dale informed him.

It took Kazuma an hour to get to the gate.

"No way..." Kazuma slumped over in disappointment.

"Dale!" A voice called out.

"Yes!" Dale responded, straightening his posture.

Kazuma looked over to see a man in amour, similar to Dale's but had a more fancy make, meaning he was a higher rank.

"Who is this?"

"Sir, this is Kazuma, he's a friend. We found him in the forest between Einshard and Belzerg." Dale explained.

"I see. It's getting late, why don't you head home with him."

"Thank you sir!" Dale said as the other man walked away.

Dale turned backed to Kazuma. "Isn't that great, now we can go get some drinks!" He said as he patted Kazuma on the back, causing him to flinch.

"Ow! Watch it!" Kazuma said as he rubbed his back.

"Sorry! I didn't even hit you that hard... Wait, did you take any hits Kazuma?"

"A goblin hit me in the back. I guess the adrenaline finally wore off from both the fight and the panic of getting here." Kazuma said.

'I guess I got so used to having Aqua around to heal me after each quest that I forgot about getting injured. I better not get myself killed then or else it'll be over for me here.' Kazuma thought to himself.

"Come on, let's get you patched up then we'll go get those drinks."

* * *

"And then that's what we did, I got patched up and then got some drinks and dinner." Kazuma finished his story.

"Wow! That was very generous of you to save those sisters." Lily said.

"It was no problem, they were in trouble and I wanted to help."

"Even so, not everyone out there would be willing to save some strangers like that, especially not without some reward."

"She's right y'know. Even among some guards, they'll sometimes turn a blind eye to someone's peril if it doesn't benefit them." Dale said.

Kazuma nodded his head, affirming he understood them well.

"Now then, let me heal those wounds for you." Lily said, reaching her hands outwards towards him.

"Heal!" Kazuma felt the pain subside quickly. Soon he was able to move around freely without any pain.

"Thank you Lily! You're a life saver!"

"Well, sometimes I am!" She giggled.

The three of them talked for a bit before Lily realized something.

"Hey Kazuma?"

"Yes?"

"Did you turn in your quest yet?"

. . .

"SHIT! I FORGOT! I'LL BE RIGHT BAAAAACK!" Kazuma shouted as he burst through the door and broke into a sprint to the Guild.

The two looked at the door that Kazuma went through. It had shattered into quite a few pieces, one hinge off the frame.

"Well, guess I need to get a new door now." Lily sighed.

"Don't worry, you can make him pay for it!" Dale said with a grin.

"You're right!"

"OUT OF MY WAY! I'M IN A HURRY!" Kazuma shouted as he ran through the streets. As was running he didn't notice the hooded figure of Raze standing on the tall roof of a building. She watched him burst out of a house and run towards the Guild.

Once he made it and entered, she turned her gaze towards the house where Dale and Lily walked outside to clean up the mess Kazuma made.

"Interesting... You've made some friends Kazuma... But what you might call your friends, I call potential hostages." She said, grinning evily.

* * *

**Some Time Later**

Kazuma entered the house completely out of breath.

"Hah... I'm back... I got the reward..." Kazuma said in between gasps of air, lifting up a small poutch with the reward.

"Nice! Thank you Kazuma!" Lily said as she took the poutch from him.

"Huh? Wait why did you take my money?" Kazuma asked.

"You broke my door, and it was a custom one too. It cost 10 thousand eris to get a new one made, which just so happens to be what your reward was." Lily said with a smile.

"No way..."

"It's okay man! You just gotta get into the groove again and take on another quest!" Dale said as he patted Kazuma in the back.

Kazuma had a dead look on his face.

'Whether in Axel or here, I can't get a break with my money huh...' Kazuma thought to himself.

Clenching his fists, Kazuma shouted in frustration that could be heard all throughout Lorm.

"CURSE THIS GOOD FOR NOTHING WORLD!"

* * *

"This is so unfair." Kazuma cried on the table.

The three went to the Guild to get some dinner. It was still very lively despite it being a bit late in the night.

"Come on Kazuma, cheer up and have a drink!" Dale said as he downed a mug of beer.

"I'm not in the mood... Besides, I'm quite broken again to even drink anyways." Kazuma said in a monotonous voice.

"Well that's your fault for breaking my door!" Lily said as she took a bite out of a fried frog leg.

"Don't remind me..." Kazuma said as the tears flowed for the memory of the money he just lost.

"Say, Kazuma?" Said Lily.

"Yes?"

"What job do you have right now?"

"Why do you ask?"

"Well we never discussed what exactly what job you have. You know I'm a Mage while Dale here is a Swordsman."

"Yeah, I've been wondering that too. I know you use a short sword but I remember you using a spell back when we found you in the forest." Dale said as he recalled Kazuma using tinder as a flare.

"Well I'm just a regular Adventurer, the most basic class."

"Wait, seriously? Just an adventurer?" Dale said slightly shocked.

"Yep, the only options I had from the get go were either adventurer or merchant thanks to my high luck, and I didn't wanna be a merchant."

"I see, but have you thought about changing your job?" Lily asked.

"Honestly, not really." Kazuma answered.

"Why not?" Dale asked.

"Don't get me wrong, I'm sure being a mage or a swordsman would be really cool, but from what I heard, each side has their ups and downs. Dale, as a swordsman you can't learn magic right?"

"That's right. As a job that is more physically focused, we are restricted from learning certain magic, or the requirements are more harder to achieve, such as double the skill points required. Not to mention we focus more on our strength than mana anyways." Dale explained.

"And the same applies for mages, we cannot learn many physical skills and they require higher strength, or more skill points than normal." Lily chimed in.

"Exactly, whereas an adventurer can learn at the very least basic, or even intermediate skills, depending on the requirements, both physical and magic, at barely any extra cost. I've gotten used to this style of fighting where I had to cover for my team's missing aspects. We had strong defence, but barely any attacks. We had a mage that could only use a spell once before all her mana was drained. And we had someone who could only either heal, buff us, or purify the undead. So I had to cover for the attacks and the variety of spells, granted I don't have many. It's a fighting style I've grown used to."

"I see, and there's no reason to change away from what you're used to." Dale said, nodding at Kazuma's explanation.

"Well I guess that's that then. But I still have another question Kazuma." Lily said.

"What is it?"

"What do you plan on doing now? You've recovered from your injuries, you have your new weapon, and now you can go on quests to make a bit of a living."

Kazuma sat in thought. He had never really given it much thought on what he would do now. Would he still try to pursue defeating the Devil King? Are there any consequences for abandoning his given mission? And what about his lodging, would he move into an inn, a house of his own, or would he stay with Lily?

"I actually didn't think about it that much yet. So much has happened lately that I haven't had the time to think about where I go from here." Kazuma answered honestly.

A moment of silence passed before Lily spoke up.

"Well, you can do whatever. If you decide to move out then I get that spare room back, and perhaps I don't have to worry about any doors breaking anymore." She said jokingly, making Kazuma flinch at the reminder that his latest pay was just taken for breaking the door.

"On the other hand, it's been quite fun having you around, even Dale comes over quite a bit more now. Plus having you around might help reduce the costs of things like for the house and groceries, you're not gonna be freeloading anytime soon mister." Lily said as she gave a deathly stare and pointed at him.

"W-wouldn't dream of it!" Kazuma said quickly as he felt a chill run down his spine.

Kazuma then sat in thought for a while. On the one hand, he didn't want to burden the two any more than he already has, not to mention how awkward it would be for a guy and a girl to living alone together. But on the other hand, they seem to trust him well enough, and he could say the same thing too. Plus has already stayed with Aqua in the stables, then lived with two more girls for a while, even though each of them had their own set of problems it would make even considering a relationship with them a red flag for now.

Finally, Kazuma came to a conclusion.

"I... If you wouldn't mind me, I would like to stick around with you guys. You're my only friends here in Einshard, so I'd like to be around you guys." Kazuma said.

"Well then, I guess that's settled then. In that case, let's get some drinks to celebrate!" Lily exclaimed as she waved for a waitress.

"Aw yea! Let's drink the night away!" Dale said as he chugged the rest of his down.

Some other adventurers heard this and decided to get in on the action of celebrating.

Kazuma was at first surprised at their enthusiasm, but quickly laughed it off. He was happy he could have people to be friends with in this unfamiliar place.

'It may not be like back in Axel, but this isn't half bad either' Kazuma thought to himself as drinks were served.


	19. Chapter 19

It had been around a week since Kazuma's first quest in Lorm. He spent a few of those days taking on quests that worked for his level, earning him a fair amount of eris. He also learned how to use a bow, and had Lily teach him basic level magic, allowing him to add "Archery", "Snipe", "Fireball", and "Ice Spike" to his skillset, making his combat ability more versatile. He wasn't extremely strong, but at the very least he has some form of combat for any situation.

But today was going to be an interesting one. The reason?

Dale caught wind of a new dungeon being discovered, but the news hasn't been made public yet since the guild needed to rate the dungeon so appropriate leveled adventurers venture in it, otherwise a situation where a low level party would enter a high leveled dungeon and get wiped out instantly, or a high level party, or even adventurer, clears a low leveled dungeon instantly with mediocre loot.

It was definitely going to be an interesting experience, seeing as how this will be the first time Kazuma would be working as a party with them.

* * *

The sun was high, it was a very warm day out. Kazuma, Lily, and Dale were walking towards the dungeon The dungeon itself was located somewhere around the nearby cliffs.

"Man... it's so hot out..." Kazuma said as he felt the heat of the sun against him.

"Summers around here can be quite strong, though we are a bit more accustomed to it. Although the same can't be said for Dale." Lily said as she looked over at Dale who was currently baking in the heat due to the armour he wears, unlike Kazuma and Lily who wear no armour.

Dale had brought his sword and shield, Lily brought her staff, and Kazuma brought his shortsword and bow.

"Anyways, what other information do we have on this dungeon?" Kazuma asked.

"Not much really, if its around our level it may be filled with quite a lot of undead, gremlins, and if it's slightly towards the higher level side, perhaps even a minotaur would be there too." Lily explained.

"And what if it's a really high leveled dungeon?"

"Oh, there would probably be some really strong undead monsters, like skull-giants, a skull or zombie dragon if it's really high, and even potentially a lich. If that were really the case then we'd be in big trouble."

"I see..."

'These dungeons really do vary in difficulty. We should be careful then if it's a unrated dungeon, never know when the situation could escalate.' Kazuma thought to himself.

"I see the dungeon!" Dale exclaimed as he pointed towards the dungeon.

Lily and Kazumz followed where he was pointing to see a big entrance in the side of an upcoming cliff.

"There it is! Are you ready Kazuma?" Lily asked.

"Heck yea! Let's go!" Kazuma exclaimed.

The three of them ran the rest of the way to the dungeon. The inside of the entrance was already much cooler than the outside, allowing the three a moment to relax as they cooled down from the heat.

"It's certainly dark in here." Dale said as he tried to look deeper in.

"Let me take care of that. Illuminate!" Lily cast a spell that caused the tip of her staff to glow.

"Nice Lily! Now we can see better in here." Kazuma praised.

Once the three were ready, the started venturing deeper into the dungeon.

The dungeon walls lined with simple stone, with the occasional stone pillar for structure.

Down the hall ahead of them was a staircase that would take them further down the dungeon.

Pillars had torch holders but not a single one of them had a torch in them, not even used ones.

"Man, this place gives me the creeps..." Kazuma said as he peered into the darkness, hoping to see something. He had also learned night vision in preparation for this, but Lily's light made seeing much easier around them.

Suddenly, Kazuma's "Enemy Detection" went off.

"Hold on, something is coming this way." Kazuma said, getting the others to stop.

There was a moment of silence before the sound of footsteps quickly approaching. Whatever it was, it was heading towards them fast.

A creature with red eyes, sharp teeth and pointed ears suddenly came into view, lunging at them to attack with a loud hiss.

Dale swung his sword down, stopping the enemy in its tracks and killing it.

"The hell is that thing?!" Kazuma asked as he looked at the fallen creature.

"That is a gremlin, a low level demon. They're quite common when it comes to dungeons. Not very dangerous on it's own, but it uses the dark surroundings of a dungeon to its advantage." Lily explained.

"Better watch out for more enemies like that down here then."

They continued down the stairs, walking past the corpse of the gremlin. They eventually reached the bottom of the stairs where they were met with long hallways and occasional doors. The doors lead to what seemed to used to be living areas such as a dining room, a storage room, a library of sorts. Lily was originally ecstatic about the library because of the potential research she could do, but unfortunately all the books have either faded with time, or had been destroyed by monsters. Inside each room there were often other kinds of low level demons or enemies, but the rooms were accompanied with a bit of loot varying from weapons, armour, and valuable objects. It was also a good thing that Kazuma had his "Detect Trap" skill as they had close calls with certain traps that involved spikes and arrows.

For the most part things seemed to be going well. The dungeon wasn't too difficult and they were getting quite a lot of loot.

"Man, with the way things are going, we should be outta here in no time with more loot than we can think of.!" Dake exclaimed.

'Don't say that you idiot! That's bound to set off a flag!' Kazuma screamed internally.

Exactly as he suspected, when Dale took another step forward, the stone panel sunk, letting out an audible click.

"What the-" Dale was cut off as the floor opened up beneath him and Lily, causing them to fall into the trap.

"Crap, guys!" Kazuma shouted.

He ran towards the trap and looked inside. He could see Dale and Lily fall thanks to Lily's staff, but soon they seemed too have followed some path, making it impossible to see them.

"Crap, crap, crap! What do I do now?! I can't jump down after them otherwise I might wind up dead!" Just as Kazuma panicked, he heard Dale call out from the trap.

"Kazuma! Are you still up there?!"

"Y-yeah! You guys are still alright!"

"Just barely, I don't know where exactly we are though."

"Hold on, I'm coming down-" Kazuma was cut off as the trap door closed itself.

He then tried to step on the same stone plate Dale stepped on but it wouldn't do anything, it seemed the trap was meant as a one time use.

"Oh for gods sake, who designs a trap like this to be a one time use?!" Kazuma cried out in frustrstion.

"There's gotta be a way down, just need to find the stairs." Kazuma looked around for any hints of stairs.

Without Lily's light spell, it made seeing more difficult as he had to rely on his night vision skill which only helped outline the area, but he couldn't see things clearly like if he had a light.

As he scanned the area for anything that could lead to the others, he noticed a faint growl coming from down the hall.

"Seriously? Now of all times?!"

As the growl got progressively louder, while also multiplying in numbers, he could faintly see the outline of the source. He recognized the figure, or rather figures, of gremlins running down the hall.

He drew his bow and shot a few arrows using "Snipe". Thanks to his high luck stat, the arrows went through a few gremlins heads. One even managed to go through and strike another one behind it in the head.

They were still drawing nearer, forcing Kazuma to put away his bow and take out his sword. He knew he couldn't take on all of them, so he turned around and ran down the hall. He still needed to find a way down to the others. He quickly turned a corner and entered the first room that he could. He hid inside until he heard the sounds of the gremlins running past the room he was in.

A moment of silence passed, which got him to think he was in the clear. Kazuma sighed as he sat down to think for a bit.

'Now what should I do? I don't know of any way I can regroup with Lily and Dale, not to mention too I have to worry about those gremlins too.'

Kazuma decided to look at the room he hid in. It appeared to be a storage room, judging by the shelving that were all around the room, and the crates sitting in the corner. The shelves were mainly lined with dust, empty glass jars, scrap paper, and other random junk. He then noticed a billboard with paper pinned on it.

He went over to the board to see that on the front of it was a map of the dungeon.

'Yes! This is just what I need!' Kazuma exclaimed internally.

He inspected the map to understand the layout of the dungeon. He was somewhere on the third floor, there were a total of 6, including a supposed large basement of sorts. It also listed some traps that were up ahead. He found out that the trap Lily and Dale fell in lead to a room in the 5th floor that seemed to be quite close to the 6th floor. He studied the map some more, remembering the paths to take for the stairs to go down. Once he was done he snatched the map from the board just in case.

"Alright, I'm coming guys, hold on!" Kazuma said.

He managed to sneak past the gremlins on the third floor and made his way down to the 4th floor. When he arrived, he saw was surprised to see what seemed like something several enemies wearing large and heavy armour roaming the halls. They each had a large sword and shield. He watched them roam the halls in a way that seemed like as if they were following a set path each, aside from the one that seemed to be guarding the door that led to the 5th floor.

'How the hell am I supposed to get past them?!' Kazuma screamed internally.

As he watched them move around, he noticed on their backs some kind of eye thing, it didn't grant them sight, so Kazuma deduced it as some kind of weak point.

Once one went by, not seeing him, he stabbed his sword into the eye on it's back. The enemy seemed to have been shocked and paralyzed as it's back arched. However, after a few seconds, the monster went back to it's normal position, and looked right at Kazuma.

"Shit!"

The halls were lit up with red, as some kind of siren went off. He turned around and dashed to escape, but another one went around a corner and was heading towards him. He looked towards the door and the monster guarding it also ran towards him, forcing him to use the stairs to go back up.

As he ran back up, the monsters seemed to have given up and went back to their normal duties.

"Scary! I thought I was gonna die!" Kazuma said as he fell back on the stairs.

"What can I do about this? Maybe the map has some answers." Kazuma pulled out the map and checked the 4th floor.

There were arrows that seemed to indicate where exactly those things walked, meaning Kazuma could sneak past them if he was careful.

He re reentered the room to see the monsters walking around like normal.

Just as the map showed, they walked in specific patterns, which allowed Kazuma to use that to his advantage.

He snuck past the first monster and was in the clear for now. He then found some kind of drawing on the wall, it had the layout of the 4th floor but had two red X's and a green circle marked on it. There were words written on the bottom of it, but it was a bit difficult to read. ""Door... open...two switches..." So there are two switches that I have to activate before I can go down?"

Kazuma wrote down the marks on his map.

He looked around and saw the first switch was nearby so he went and pressed it. It made an audible click which gained the attention of the monster guarding the door.

It made a sound of curiosity before it started walking over to the switch.

Kazuma hid behind a small portion of the wall that served as a sort of cover.

He peeked around the corner and saw it look around the area before it gave up and went back to the doorm

Kazuma let out a sigh before he continued sneaking around. Thanks to his "Lurk" skill he was able to quietly sneak past the monsters and activate the other switch, which caused the door behind the monster to open up.

"That takes care of that, but the question is how can I get it away from the door?"

He remembered when the monster inspected the sound he made earlier and took out his bow.

He aimed it so he would hit the other end of the room, but also so the guard wouldn't see the arrow.

Firing the arrow, it flew across the room and struck the wall, letting out a loud sound that attracted the guard away from the door.

Kazuma used this opportunity to run through the door, making it into the 5th floor.

"Thank goodness... That was so stressful. Just one more floor to go and then I can find them!"

The 5th floor was relatively easy. This time he didn't have to deal with those strange monsters again, this time only having to face gremlins and the occasional undead.

He reached the final set of stairs that would take him down to the final floor. But as he was rushing down the stairs, he heard quite a loud roar, only drowned out due to probably the distance and the walls, then a large tremor that shook the entire floor.

"The hell was that?!" Kazuma exclaimed.

He ran down the stairs, as he went deeper the sounds got more and more louder. He eventually reached the bottom of the stairs, entering a massive open room. What he saw though had him still on his feet.

In the time Kazuma has been in this world, he has encountered giant frogs, alligators, a Dulluhan, a winter shogun, ghosts, and the Destroyer. But he had yet to encounter a dragon.

And yet, right before his eyes in this dungeon, lies a dragon, but not just a regular dragon. Where most dragons would be massive, with thick flesh and strong scales. The one standing before Kazuma consisted of only bones, a Skull-Dragon.

"Kazuma!" He heard someone call. He looked past the dragon to see a tattered Dale waving at him with Lily behind him.

"Guys! You're alright!"

"Just barely!"

The dragon suddenly turned around and spotted Kazuma, letting out a roar.

"Shit!"

"Run Kazuma!" Lily shouted.

The dragon quickly ran over to where Kazuma was and readied its tail for an attack.

Kazuma jumped out of the way as it whipped its tail. The tail went through the wall, dragging along and cut through the entrance, causing it to be covered by rocks.

"Well there goes our exit." Kazuma sighed.

He didn't have much time to relax though as the dragon focused its sights on Kazuma once again.

"G-Good dragon?" He said nervously.

The dragon let out another roar as magic started to gather in its mouth. Kazuma quickly ran off as a torrent of fire shot out of the dragon's mouth, hitting the spot Kazuma was just at.

"So even as an undead it can use magic."

"Yes, but because it's an undead that can use magic, that must mean that there is a source. Undead normally cannot call upon magic without a catalyst, often a crystal." Lily said as she and Dale walked over to Kazuma.

"Problem is, we haven't been able to find it yet." Dale said. Just as he said that, the dragon shot another burst of fire right at them.

"Well we can't stick around here forever." Kazuma said as he equipped his bow.

He took aim and shot, the arrow flew threw the air but bounced off the dragon's bones like it was nothing.

"Dammit, that didn't do anything."

"What did you expect, its bone you're hitting." Lily said.

"Well I don't know!" Kazuma shouted.

The dragon then swiped its tail again. Dale stood out infront of them with his shield ready.

"Iron defense!" Dale used a skill to buff his defense, but it didn't stop the attack, knocking the three of them away and into the wall.

"Agh, that hurt a lot..." Kazuma said as he struggled to get on his.

"We're not gonna last long if we can't take that thing down..." Lily said as she began to heal Dale who took the most damage from the attack.

"But we have no idea where the crystal is." Kazuma said as he looked over the dragon.

As he inspected the dragon, he noticed that the dragon had black eyes with a glowing green slit for irises.

"Hey Lily?"

"What is it?" She asked.

"Do skull undead usually have eyes like that?" Kazuma said as he pointed at the dragon's eyes.

"No... They don't! The eye sockets are usually empty unless they still had decaying eyes left in them, they can still sense without sight so they are capable of fighting, but if those eyes aren't just remains of it's original ones, then that would mean..."

"That the crystal might be in it's eyes." Kazuma said.

"But how could we break it? Your arrows might not be strong enough to penetrate through and break the crystal."

"Then we just have to break through it the old fashioned way, with our swords."

"But that's insane! Not only is that dragon's head higher above us, it's too strong to get close enough to it."

"You're right... If only we could stun it, I could sneak towards the dragon using my skills."

"I have a spell that might work, but it moves around too much for me to be able to effectively use it against it." Lily said.

"I could try something to hold it in place..." Dale said weakly.

"That's too dangerous! You're already beat up as is, how are you gonna hold down the dragon in your state?" Lily said.

"Well, we don't really have a choice do we? If we can't stop it we all go down here."

The two were silent at this.

"Kazuma."

"Yes?"

"Can you really beat that thing?" Dale asked him.

"... I'll do my best." Kazuma said.

"Heh... good enough."

Dale stood up, and so did Lily.

"Alright then, let's do this guys!" Kazuma said.

"Right!" The other two said

Kazuma readied his bow and took aim. He shot a several arrows, most of which just bounced off its body. One however flew right into the dragon's eye, causing it to roar out in pain before focusing on them. It charged headfirst towards them, giving them the opportunity they needed.

Kazuma used his "Concealment" ability. It granted him invisibility for short time, allowing hin to sneak around the dragon. This left Dale and Lily to their jobs.

Dale took a stance, arms wide open. Just as the dragon was about to ram right into them, Dale grabbed the bottom of the dragon's head while activating a skill.

"Hold!" He shouted. It was a skill that he learned as a guard, it allowed him to hold whatever he was touching still, depending on his stats. It was handy for situations where they were chasing criminals and other people, it didn't keep them frozen forever, but it keept them still long enough for them to better apprehend them.

The dragon was held in place, but it was draining whatever stamina Dale had left of him quickly.

"Now Lily!" He shouted.

"Right! Flash Bomb!" Lily used a spell that summoned a bright ball of light that exploded, blinding the dragon while also stunning it. Dale then ran out of stamina and had to let go of the dragon, but it had already been dazed, causing it to hold still for a moment.

Kazuma took this opportunity to climb onto the dragon's tail, allowing him to run onto the back of the dragon.

'Insane! This is insane! This has got to be one of the most scariest things I've ever done!' Kazuma screamed internally as he ran. He eventually reached to the top of the dragon's head where the two glowing eyes were. He used his sword to stab right into each eye and dig them out of the sockets. They both landed on the ground, going towards the others, which cause Lily to scream out over the sight of the two eyes that were staring at her. This caused the dragon to cry out in pain and shake Kazuma off. He fell onto the ground as the dragon then started wildly attacking the area.

Kazuma struggled to get up, but managed to get on his feet and walk over to the eyes. He swiftly cut the two eyes in half, revealing the crystals inside them.

"This ends now!" Kazuma shouted as he stomped on the crystals, shattering them into dust.

The dragon roared one last time before whatever was holding it together seemed to have dissapeared, causing the bones to fall apart, reducing the dragon to a pile of bones.

"We... We did it!" Kazuma said, falling onto the ground with exhaustion.

"We really did it..." Lily said, shocked at the fact that they had indeed taken down a skull dragon.

"Thank goodness..." Dale said as he just laid down on the ground.

The three of them spent the next few minutes just catching their breaths as they took in their victory.

"Hey, Kazuma." Lily said.

"Yeah?"

"That was a great plan."

"Oh, thank you."

"It was insane, but atleast it worked." Dale said.

"Well, I couldn't have done it without you guys." Kazuma said.

"I don't know about you guys, but once we get home I am sleeping for an entire day." Lily said as she laid on her back. This got the other two to laugh in agreement, to which Lily joined in.

'That was intense, but it was also fun to go on an adventure with these guys.' Kazuma thought as he laughed.


	20. Chapter 20

It had been almost two weeks since the girls had been to Lux. While they wanted information on Kazuma, they had their own things to deal with at home, such as the enormous debt still left from repairing the city wall, so that left them to delay their visit further. But now, they are headed back to that town on a carriage.

The ride had them all tense. Here they are, on a ride to where they could finally get their first clue on Kazuma's whereabouts. Would they even be able to find out much? If they followed it and ended up finding Kazuma, how would he react? Does Kazuma even want to be found?

"We're here!" Shouted the driver, snapping them out of their thoughts.

They looked at each other before nodding. The three got out and looked at their surrounding. The last time they arrived here they had quite some events happen, but nonetheless it gave them the first hint about Kazuma. The only thing they hoped was that this person they were meeting was willing to talk. The girls searches around for any sign of the brothers, but couldn't see them anywhere, resulting them in asking around about their whereabouts. They were eventually directed towards the village's lumber shop which was run by the brothers. They found their way near the outskirts of the village, where a decently sized building was. On the front was a sign that read "John Ralph Lumber Shop". Once they knew the found the right place, they entered the shop. Upon entering they were greeted by John.

"Welcome! How can I- Oh, well hello again." John said.

"Greetings, I do believe you remember why we're here, right?" Darkness asked.

John nodded. "Let me get my brother and then we'll go." John headed out to the back to get Ralph.

He then returned with Ralph in tow, who gave them a slightly curious glance.

"Well then, it's time you got your answers. We're coming with you too because we'd like some answers for our questions that William might have too."

The brothers led them outside before locking up.

"Alright, follow us." Ralph said as the brothers started walking. The girls quickly started following them, slightly anxious.

"So this guy we're meeting, is there anything we should know about him?" Aqua asked.

"Not really. He's just a merchant that goes back and forth between towns and cities, but he does have his home here. I only hope he's willing to talk about Kazuma. No doubt when he got the the capital they informed him about Kazuma." John explained.

Eventually they reached a house that was more closer to the center of the town. Ralph approached the door and knocked gently three times. A moment passed before the door opened.

"Yes? Ah, the brothers, how can I help you two?" The man asked.

"Hello William, we're here with some company to ask you a few questions." Ralph said, stepping aside to show the three standing behind them.

"Company?" William looked over to see the three girls standing there.

"Hello, we are a group of adventurers. I am Darkness, and these are my companions Megumin, a Crimson Demon Arch-Wizard, and Aqua an Arch-Priest. We've come to ask you about our leader's whereabouts." Darkness said, introducing the other two, and their purpose.

"Leader? Well the only adventurer I would know of is Ka- Wait a minute... are you asking about "him"?" William asked, pointing at the wanted poster that sat on the board in the center of the village.

"Yeah, that's him." Aqua said.

William looked around before he ushered them inside the house.

He lead them to the living room, where they all sat down.

"Just let me ask, you're not here to arrest me, or Kazuma, right?" William asked.

"That's right, we've come to ask about Kazuma's whereabouts. We were told you left with him to the capital, do you know where he might have went?"

"I... I do know where he went..." William said hesitantly, which got the girls to light up in excitement.

"However, before I tell you, I want to ask you something too. Why is Kazuma being accused for terrorism, what is it that he did that had the guards at the capital on edge?" William asked.

"Yes, we'd like to know too." Ralph said, John nodding beside him.

The girls shared a look before deciding to share the details.

"To start, our party is situated in Axel, and a few weeks ago the Destroyer was on it's path towards the city." Darkness began.

"Yes, we remember that. It was quite terrifying seeing such a large being moving in such a way, leaving only destruction in its wake." Ralph said.

"That thing stood no chance for us though, thanks to my "Scared Break Spell", not to mention Megumin and Wiz's double explosion!" Aqua said as she remembered that moment.

"Wait, that giant explosion was you?" Ralph asked.

"It was! It was one of my best explosions to date!"

"Despite the fact that we took it down, it was prepared to self-destruct, due to the coronatite core that powered the machine. According to Wiz and Aqua, they were able to teleport the core away, but unfortunately the location was random, causing it to blow up a Noble's house. Because of this, Kazuma was thought to be a terrorist, and arrested him. Apparently on the way to the jail house, Kazuma managed to fight his way out and escape. Ever since then, Kazuma has been labeled as a criminal and a potential terrorist since he was never given a chance to defend himself." Darkness finished explaining.

The three men sat as they now finally knew the story behind Kazuma.

"Well, I have to say, it's relieving to know that Kazuma isn't really a criminal." Ralph said.

"You can say that again, otherwise I was with a dangerous man for some time." William said.

"So you were with him, where did he go?" Megumin asked.

William looked at the other girls who were looking at him for answers, even Ralph and John were looking at him.

"Kazuma and I split up when we were approaching the capital. Apparently he said he was heading for the neighboring kingdom Einshard. Imagine my surprise when I arrive at the capital and the guards were looking for the man that just escorted me there."

"So he went to Einshard?!" Aqua asked.

"Y-yea, that's where he said he was going."

"Then that's where we're going guys!" Aqua said, turning to the other two.

"Hold it! Sorry to rain on your parade, but I'd recommend against heading there right now." William said.

"Why would that be?" Darkness asked.

"Just like I told Kazuma, between Belzerg and Einshard is a large forest, home to monsters and bandits. There's an especially nasty group of bandits called "The Blood Eyed Bandits" who reside in the forest."

"That name sounds so cool! It appeals to my Crimson Demon desires!" Megumin exclaimed once she heard the name of the bandits.

"Right... Anyways, they are very dangerous, so much so that neither Kingdom has made a move to take over the forest for their own. I can only hope Kazuma managed to reach Einshard safely." William said worried for the boy.

"Don't worry, Kazuma is safe." Aqua said, getting him to look at her.

"How can you be so certain." He asked her.

"It's just a feeling, call it a bit of an instinct that I have, but even then I'm sure Kazuma would be fine. There's no way Kazuma would let himself get caught by a bunch of bandits."

**-Meanwhile in Einshard-**

"ACHOO!" Kazuma sneezed.

"Are you alright Kazuma?" Lily, who was walking beside him, asked.

"Yeah yeah, I'm fine, just some random sneeze"

* * *

**-Back at Lux-**

"You're right, even if Kazuma was face to face with them I bet he'd use any dirty trick on them to beat them. I wouldn't be surprised if he used his 'Steal' ability on a female bandit or something." Megumin said, laughing at the idea.

* * *

**-Again at Einshard-**

"ACHOO! Am I coming down with something?" Kazuma asked himself.

"They say when you sneeze, it means someone is talking about you!" Lily said.

"Nothing good I bet..." Kazuma grumbled.

* * *

**-Again at Lux-**

"Anyways, thank you for this information, you've given us an important clue to Kazuma's whereabouts." Darkness said.

"It's no problem, I'm glad I could help" William responded.

The girls had gotten up and were heading to leave. Right before they left, Ralph called them.

"Oi, if you plan on going after him you better apologize to him. The circumstances may have been dire, but friends stick together, and you did the opposite." This got the girls to flinch, remembering the events of Kazuma's arrest.

"You guys don't look like bad people, and of you're serious about finding him, then you're definitely not the kind that would give up just because it's hard, so good luck to you." That brought their moods back up.

"And if you managed to drag his ass back here, tell him he owes us a drink." John said, earning a laugh from everyone.

"Darn right! After all the trouble he's caused us he better drink with us till the sun comes up!" William joked.

After sharing a good laugh, the girls left the house. After spending some time around the village they eventually got back on the carriage back to Axel. It was on the ride back that they started to discuss what to do.

"So then what should we do? We should go after Kazuma but at the same time the bandits sound like serious business." Megumin asked.

"Perhaps we can ask Wiz to teleport us? She knew the spell back with the Destroyer, so perhaps she can teleport us to Einshard?" Darkness suggested.

"Ehhh, but why do we need to ask that Lich for help?!" Aqua cried out, not happy with the idea.

"Hai hai, we can hear your complaints later." Megumin said, brushing Aqua's whining aside. "Wiz used to be an adventurer, so perhaps she's been to Einshard before."

"Then that's the plan." Darkness said.

"Hold on! I didn't agree on asking that Lich for help!" Aqua cried, but her complaints fell on deaf ears.

When they reached Axel they immediately went for Wiz's shop, despite Aqua crying about it. Once they reached the shop they were greeted by Wiz.

"Oh, hello there! What brings you here today?" Wiz asked.

"We've received some information about Kazuma's whereabouts, and we were hoping you could help us out." Darkness explained.

"That's great! If I can it's something I can do then I'd be willing to help. Kazuma helped me out during the Destroyer, and it's my teleport why he's in trouble. So what is it that you need?"

"Can you teleport us somewhere?" Megumin asked.

"Of course! Where do you need to go?"

"The next kingdom over, Einshard. Apparently that's where Kazuma went."

"E-Eh... that might not be possible then..." Wiz said, slightly nervous.

"What do you mean?!" Aqua cried as she grabbed Wiz and started shaking her.

"A-A-Aqua-sama, please let me go!" Wiz cried out.

Darkness and Megumin shared a look before Darkness pulled a 'Kazuma' smacking Aqua square on the head with the her sword sheath.

"Ow! Why did you hit me?!" Aqua cried as she rubbed her head.

"We're not gonna get anywhere with you attacking her like that. What do you mean by impossible Wiz?" Darkness asked.

"W-Well, I've actually never been to Einshard... I mainly traveled around Belzerg before becoming a Lich, and even then I was only in Belzerg due to the overlapping borders. The Devil King mostly sent grunts and lower level demons to other nearby kingdoms, while the Generals focused on Belzerg. The most I can do to help you is teleport you to the Capital, as it's the closest point to Einshard." Wiz offered an alternative.

"That's a problem... That would mean we might have a run in with those bandits..." Megumin said, worried about the current option presented to them.

"I'm very sorry! If there's anything else I can do just please ask." Wiz offered, feeling guilty that she couldn't help them.

"Thank you, for now the three of us need to spend a bit more time leveling up, gaining more skills before we go after Kazuma. From what we were told, "The Blood Eyed Bandits" are a powerful group. It would be wise to become stronger before tackling them." Darkness said.

"I've heard of them, they are a force that manages to even hold off many of the Devil King's armies. If you would allow it, I wish to fight along side you girls." Wiz offered.

"Thank you Wiz. When the time comes we'll let you know when we head to Einshard." Darkness said, giving Wiz a slight bow.

This was their plan. Level up, get stronger, then go after Kazuma. They wanted to see him again, even if he didn't want to come back to Axel.

* * *

**A/N: Aaaand that's another chapter done! Sorry that it takes me forever to post a new chapter. While ****I work on this story as like a hobby that I work on from time to time, after chapter 14 I've been wanting to write the chapters to be longer than just 1k words, while also not feeling too fast paced, making the story feel more thought out than just blazing through events one after another.**


End file.
